Sister of Amir Hekmati Writes to Red Cross: I Am Worried About My Brother's Condition

Sara Hekmati, the sister of Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Iran, has written a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross, requesting that the organization meet with her brother at Evin Prison. Amir Mirzaei Hekmati announced in a phone call with his family on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, that he would go on an indefinite hunger strike in protest of the status of his case and his despair over its review. According to the New York Times, Ms. Hekmati emphasized in her letter that she is 'very worried' about her brother's health in Evin Prison. Sara Hekmati mentioned in her letter to the Red Cross about her brother's conditions in Evin Prison and stressed that in his last contact with the family, he insisted that he would continue his hunger strike until death or his release from prison. The New York Times reported that Sara Hekmati provided more details about the mistreatment her brother has faced from prison officials and interrogators in her letter to the global Red Cross officials. Amir Hekmati's family reported last Sunday, after meeting with Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States, that there had been 'improvements in his prison conditions,' which they described as a hopeful sign for his potential release. Amir Mirzaei Hekmati was born in Arizona, USA, to Iranian parents. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a translator in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Hekmati stated that he traveled to Iran in 2011 to visit his grandmother but was arrested upon arrival and initially sentenced to death on charges of 'espionage' and 'collaboration with hostile countries,' although his death sentence was later reduced to 10 years in prison upon appeal. Mr. Hekmati's family and U.S. officials, including John Kerry, the Secretary of State, and Joe Biden, have firmly rejected the espionage charges against him. Amir Hekmati went on a hunger strike last winter in protest of his case and prison conditions, but he temporarily ended his strike after Iranian judicial officials agreed to review his case. Amir Hekmati, former Marine, Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor, and Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post journalist, are among Iranian-Americans imprisoned in Iran. U.S. government officials, several members of Congress and the Senate, as well as civil and human rights activists, have repeatedly called on Iranian judicial authorities for the release of these individuals. In this context, Obama called for the release of Hekmati, Abedini, Rezaian, and the finding of Levinson. Amir Hekmati has stated that he is willing to renounce his Iranian nationality in exchange for his freedom from prison.