U.S. Senate Calls for the Release of American Citizens Imprisoned in Iran

On Wednesday, U.S. senators unanimously passed a resolution calling for the release of all American citizens imprisoned in Iran. In Resolution No. 245, the Senate urged President Donald Trump to make the issue of individuals referred to as American hostages in Iran a top priority for the government. This resolution, prepared by Senator Ted Cruz from the Republican Party and Senator Patrick Leahy from the Democratic Party, references the cases of Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Xiao Wang, and Nizar Zakka, who is a permanent resident of the U.S. It encourages the President to take action to secure the release of these individuals and states that the U.S. and its allies, who also have citizens imprisoned in Iran, should form a multinational task force to work towards their release. The resolution also mentions the case of Robert Levinson, stating that the Iranian government must fulfill its promises regarding this American citizen who has disappeared in Iran and take fundamental actions. After the senators voted on this resolution, Ted Cruz and Patrick Leahy issued a joint statement declaring their moral duty to be the voice of those who have been silenced and are in chains, and to hold accountable those responsible for the detention and mistreatment of people in Iran. Jared Genser, the lawyer for Siamak and Baquer Namazi, both sentenced to ten years in prison, expressed satisfaction with the Senate's action, emphasizing the importance of the Senate passing a resolution similar to that of the House of Representatives, and stated that President Trump must do everything in his power to secure the release of Baquer and Siamak Namazi and bring them back to the U.S. to prevent, as Mr. Genser put it, 'another tragedy from being wrought by a heartless regime.' Baquer Namazi, 81 years old, reportedly does not have good health conditions in prison. Mr. Namazi, a former UNICEF employee, went to Tehran about two years ago to visit his son Siamak, who had been imprisoned, but was arrested himself, and both were sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of collaborating with 'hostile foreign governments.' Xiao Wang was arrested nearly a year ago, but news of his detention was revealed in late July. He is a doctoral student at Princeton University who went to Iran for research related to the Qajar era and was arrested, now sentenced to ten years in prison. Nizar Zakka traveled to Tehran in September 2015 at Iran's invitation to attend a conference but shortly thereafter went missing and was later announced to be in custody. He has also been sentenced to ten years, and the judiciary rejected the appeal for all these individuals' sentences last month. In this context, the U.S. House of Representatives has also called for the release of American prisoners in Iran. Ed Royce stated: 'Iran detains American citizens for ransom.' The Tehran prosecutor has stated that the appeals for the Namazis, Wang, and Zakka have been rejected. The working group on arbitrary detentions has called for the release of Siamak and Baquer Namazi. A court in the U.S. has ordered Iran to pay a fine to Amir Hekmati. The resolution was approved in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the release of American prisoners in Iran.