Iran has granted leave of absence to imprisoned Iranian-American Siamak Namazi for the first time in seven years and has lifted the travel ban on his elderly father, the UN secretary-general and the family’s lawyer said on Saturday.
Iranian authorities gave Namazi a week-long renewable leave and he was reunited with his parents in Tehran, his lawyer Jared Genser told NBC News.
“While these are crucial first steps, we will not rest until the Namazis can all return to the United States and their long nightmare has finally come to an end,” Genser said in a statement.
Siamak Namazi, a businessman arrested in 2015, is the longest held Iranian-American prisoner in Iran. His father, Baquer Namazi, who worked for the United Nations before retiring, was also jailed and later released on medical leave, but he still has a travel ban.
The UN, the US government and human rights organizations say the charges against them are both unfounded and that his detention violates international law. Three other Americans are being held in Iran, as well as at least one legal permanent resident.
“The Secretary-General is grateful that, following his appeals to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, our former colleague Baquer Namazi has been allowed to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad,” said a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General. António Guterres in a statement. pronunciation.
“The Secretary General is also pleased to learn that Baquer Namazi’s son, Siamak Namazi, has been released from detention,” the spokesman added.
US and European diplomats say negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran have stalled.
Families and supporters of Americans imprisoned in Iran have called on the Biden administration not to leave their loved ones behind bars even if nuclear talks fail, and are urging the White House to negotiate to secure the release of the Americans to do.
siamak Namaz recently made an emotional appeal through his attorney, saying the government should do more to bring him and other Americans home.
Gambling the fate of US hostages in Iran on the success of the nuclear talks is negligent and cruel. We must be liberated first, and now!” Namazi said in tweets posted by his lawyer.
Iran’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.