March 17, 2023
A US citizen imprisoned by Iran on spying charges gave an unprecedented interview from Tehran’s Evin prison beseeching US President Joe Biden to secure his release and that of two other American nationals.
“I implore you, sir, to put the lives and liberty of innocent Americans above all the politics involved and to just do what is necessary to end this nightmare and bring us home,” Siamak Namazi told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a telephone interview.
Namazi, 51, was speaking March 9 on behalf of himself, Emad Shargi, 58, a businessman and US citizen, and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who has both US and British nationality.
Namazi made a similar plea in a letter to Biden on January 16, seven years after Iran released five US citizens in a prisoner exchange that left Namazi behind.
“I remain deeply worried that the White House just doesn’t appreciate how dire our situation has become,” he said, saying he, Tahbaz and Shargi were all now held in the same place. Early in his detention, Namazi said he spent months caged in a cell, sleeping on the floor.
Namazi also called it “hurtful and upsetting” that Biden had not met his family “just to give them some words of assurance.”
A White House spokesperson said, “Iran’s unjust imprisonment and exploitation of US citizens for use as political leverage is outrageous, inhumane and contrary to international norms.
“Senior officials from both the White House and the State Department meet and consult regularly with the Namazi family, and we will continue to do so until this unacceptable detention ends,” the spokesperson added.
The Islamic Republic has talked to the US about a possible prisoner swap numerous times. It is understood to want more than a dozen Iranians imprisoned in the United States for sanctions’ violations as well as the release of billions of dollars of Iranian funds frozen under sanctions.
