UN says Tehran has freed US-Iranian father and son from detention

 The Islamic Republic of Iran has temporarily released Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman, after seven years of detention and lifted the travel ban on his father in what could be preparation for a prisoner swap between Iran and the United States.

A United Nations (UN) spokesman said that Siamak’s father Baquer, 85, had been permitted to leave the country for medical treatment after Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, appealed to Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. According to the spokesman, Guterres was pleased to learn Siamak Namazi had also been “released from detention.”

Hojjat Kermani, the family’s lawyer, said that Siamak Namazi was released on Saturday evening for one week following “his repeated requests to be alongside his father” during difficult times as his father needed an operation because of his cardiac problems.

Baquer Namazi, 85, requires surgery to clear life-threatening blockages in his left carotid artery.  He underwent a similar operation in October 2021 in Iran for blockages on the right artery because the Iranian authorities declined their appeals to let him return to the US for the treatment.

Earlier, Baquer’s other son, Babak Namazi, urged the Joe Biden administration to do everything it can to get him and his father home for treatment. 

Siamak is the longest-held Iranian-American imprisoned in Iran, according to a statement from his US-based legal team. Earlier, the Iranian authorities accused Siamak of collaborating with a hostile government and collaborating with an enemy state, the US. His family said that he was harshly interrogated by the Iranian authorities about his past fellowships with US institutions. His father was arrested and detained in February 2016. 

Tensions between Iran and the US soared after former President of the US, Donald Trump, abandoned the nuclear accord, also known as JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), in 2018 and imposed waves of crippling sanctions on Iran.