U.N. Officials Urge Tehran To Release U.S.-Iranian Hostage Siamak Namazi

Namazi Is Serving 10-Year Sentence In Iran’s Evin Prison 

(New York, N.Y.) – October 13 marked five years since dual American-Iranian national Siamak Namazi was taken hostage and imprisoned by the Iranian regime, making him the longest serving U.S. prisoner in the Islamic Republic. Siamak and his father, Baquer Namazi, were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on fabricated charges of cooperating with a hostile foreign government, the United States, and sentenced in 2016 by Tehran’s revolutionary court to 10-years in prison. Baquer, a former UNICEF official who was 80 at the time of his arrest and conviction, was released on medical leave in 2018, but is barred from leaving Iran to seek medical treatment for his severe health concerns.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Siamak’s brother, Babak Namazi, marked the somber anniversary of his brother’s imprisonment by demanding for he and his father’s immediate release – a call that was shared by over 160 former and current United Nations officials in an open letter to the Iranian regime. But Tehran appears to be doubling down in its hostage-taking. Last Friday, media reports indicated that German-Iranian dual national Nahid Taghavi has been imprisoned. British-Australian hostage Kylie Moore-Gilbert has also now been transferred from the notorious Qarchak Prison to an unknown location.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s resource, American and Western Hostages, profiles American and European citizens being held illegally in Iran, as well as in-depth descriptions of the experiences of former hostages who have been recently released from captivity. 

To read UANI’s resource, American and Western Hostages, please click here. 

###