(RepublicanNews.org) – Iranian officials holding Americans hostage is nothing new. The Carter administration failed to secure the release of more than 50 hostages for more than a year. It took 444 days, until Ronald Reagan’s first day in office, for Iranian authorities to release them.
A new Democratic president is now in office, and family members of two Americans held hostage in Iran have reached out to Biden administration officials for help getting their loved ones released.
“It is beyond outrageous for Iran to continue playing with my father’s life,” said Babak Namazi, whose 84-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, is marking his fifth year under Iranian control https://t.co/VAJmE4UfDY #FreeIranHostages #FreeTheNamazis
— FreeTheNamazis (@FreeTheNamazis) February 23, 2021
Iranian authorities have detained Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi since October 13, 2015, making him the longest-held American hostage in Iran. Officials detained his father, Baquer Namazi, a year later when he traveled to Iran to visit Siamak.
According to a family member, in October 2016, both men received 10-year prison sentences on “baseless charges” of spying. Now 84 years old and in failing health, Baquer Namazi received a sentence commutation last year, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard placed a block on his exit from Iran.
Babak Namazi told reporters on February 22 that he “expects” the Biden administration won’t make any deals with the Iranian regime until it secures the release of his father and brother. The matter is of some urgency due to Baquer Namazi’s medical condition.
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