Appeal for 10-Year Prison Sentences of Baqer and Siamak Namazi Rejected

The American lawyer for Siamak and Baqer Namazi announced that an Iranian court has rejected their appeal against their 10-year prison sentences. Jared Genser, the Namazi's lawyer based in Washington, stated on Monday, September 6, that they were informed on Sunday that the court had rejected their appeal. Iranian officials and media have not yet reported on this matter. The Namazi family's lawyer told the Associated Press that the rejection of their appeal comes at a time when both Baqer and Siamak Namazi are suffering from health issues. According to Mr. Genser, Siamak Namazi has spent most of his imprisonment in solitary confinement and has been "brutally interrogated and beaten." He added, "I am deeply concerned about their health, which is rapidly deteriorating." Siamak Namazi, a former Iranian-American director of strategic planning at Crescent Petroleum, was arrested in October 2015. His 81-year-old father, Baqer Namazi, a former UNICEF official and governor of Khuzestan during the Shah's era, was also arrested in March 2016 while visiting Iran to follow up on his son's case. The Namazis are among dual-national Iranian citizens who were detained after the Iran nuclear deal with six world powers in July 2015. This is the second instance of rejection of appeals by Iranian-American citizens by Iranian revolutionary courts in the past two weeks. Princeton University also announced on August 26 that the appeal of one of its students imprisoned in Iran was rejected by the Iranian judiciary. The wife of Zhao Wang, a Chinese-American researcher at Princeton who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran, requested Iranian authorities to release him, stating, "He has been unjustly imprisoned." Political analysts view the long-term detention of these individuals as a move to weaken President Hassan Rouhani's government and possibly negotiate with European and American governments. Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated on July 26 that Iran uses the detention of American citizens on baseless charges as leverage to extract ransom or ease sanctions, but this action violates the "International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages." President Donald Trump warned Iran on July 21 that it would face serious and new consequences if it did not release American citizens imprisoned in the country. The White House stated that Trump and his administration have intensified efforts to bring back and free all American citizens unjustly imprisoned around the world. The U.S. House of Representatives also called for the release of American prisoners in Iran on July 26. In addition to the Namazis and Zhao Wang, Karen Vafadari, another Iranian-American citizen, is also imprisoned in Iran, along with Nizar Zaka and Afrin Nissari, Mr. Vafadari's wife, who hold U.S. green cards and are also detained by the Iranian government. Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who is said to have disappeared on Kish Island, is another individual whose fate Washington is seeking information about. Robin Shahini, another Iranian-American citizen, was detained for a time but is now free on bail.