Answer to our Prayers - Baquer Namazi Free to Leave Iran; Son, Siamak Granted Parole from Prison

Baquer and Siamak Namazi 

The news that our colleague, Baquer Namazi, has been allowed to leave Iran for medical treatment came with few details.  Shortly thereafter we learned that Baquer's son, Siamak has been granted a furlough.  For all those in UNICEF and XUNICEF who campaigned for Baquer's release, the news was more than welcome.  That said, the details of the agreement which apparently led to these developments remain few and far between. It may takes days or even weeks for us to learn the full story.  Meanwhile, let us celebrate! 

NBC News - Iran has granted a furlough to imprisoned Iranian-American Siamak Namazi for the first time in seven years, and lifted the travel ban on his elderly father, the U.N. secretary general and the family’s lawyer said Saturday.

Iranian authorities gave Namazi a one-week, renewable furlough and he was reunited with his parents in Tehran, his lawyer Jared Genser told NBC News.

“While these are critical 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 who was 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 imprisoned and later released on a medical furlough, but he has remained under a travel ban.

The U.N., the U.S. government and human rights groups say the espionage charges against both of them are baseless and that his detention is a violation of international law. Three other Americans are 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 permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad,” a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement.

“The secretary-general is also pleased to learn that Baquer Namazi’s son, Siamak Namazi, has been released from detention,” the spokesperson added.

CNN —An elderly American wrongfully held in Iran for more than six years has been permitted to leave the country “to seek medical treatment abroad,” according to a statement from UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Baquer Namazi, 85, was released from detention, along with his son Siamak Namazi, Dujarric said.

The conditions of what appears to be a temporary release for both father and son are unclear at this time.

Baquer Namazi was facing health problems and developed further medical issues over the course of his six-year detainment, law firm Perseus Strategies, which represents the family, said in a statement last month.

Jared Genser, the Namazis’ attorney, said in a statement Saturday that “Baquer Namazi’s travel ban has been lifted and that, for the first time in seven years, Siamak Namazi is at home with his parents in Tehran. While these are critical 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.”

Siamak Namazi was blocked from leaving Iran after visiting in July 2015 and underwent months of interrogations before being arrested in October 2015. His father was lured to Iran under the false premise that he would be able to see his son. He was instead immediately taken into custody at that time, in February 2016.

US efforts to free the Namazis, as well as two other wrongfully detained Americans – Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz – have failed to yield results. The State Department has said these conversations are being pursued separately from negotiations over the Iran nuclear deal, which have also yet to reach a breakthrough.

UN says detained Iranian-American was allowed to leave Iran

Barrons — An 85-year-old Iranian-American who formerly worked for the U.N. children’s agency and was detained in Iran in 2016 has been permitted to leave the country for medical treatment abroad, the United Nations said Saturday.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced the departure of Baquer Namazi and said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was grateful he could leave following the U.N. chief’s appeals to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Dujarric said the secretary-general was also pleased that Namazi’s son, Siamak Namazi, had been released from detention.