UN Secretary-General Urges Hassan Rouhani to Release Baqer Namazi from Prison

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has asked the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Baqer Namazi, an Iranian-American citizen and former UNICEF official, from prison. A UN spokesperson announced that Mr. Guterres raised this request during a meeting with Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly on Monday of this week. According to Reuters, Stephane Dujarric stated, "The Secretary-General brought up this issue and once again called for the humanitarian release of Baqer Namazi." A branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Baqer Namazi and his son Siamak to 10 years in prison last October, accusing them of collaborating with "hostile foreign governments." Jared Genser, the Namazi family's lawyer based in Washington, announced on September 6 that Baqer and Siamak Namazi had been informed that their appeal had been rejected. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran public and revolutionary prosecutor, confirmed a week later that the appeal requests of the two Iranian-American citizens had been denied. Siamak Namazi, a former Iranian-American director of strategic planning at Crescent Oil Company, was arrested in October 2015. His 81-year-old father, Baqer Namazi, who is a former UNICEF official and governor of Khuzestan during the Shah's reign, was also arrested in March 2016 while visiting Iran to follow up on his son's case. The Namazis are among the Iranian dual nationals who were arrested following the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers in July 2015. Meanwhile, the Namazi family's lawyer in Washington reported on September 29 that Baqer Namazi underwent heart surgery on Tuesday due to a heart problem and had a pacemaker implanted. In a statement released on Wednesday morning, Jared Genser suggested that despite Baqer Namazi's deteriorating health, he was likely returned to Evin Prison that same evening. The detention of the Namazis has faced widespread international criticism, especially from the United States, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has described their detention as a violation of international law, calling on the Iranian government to release these two Iranian-American citizens. In this context, the appeal against the 10-year prison sentence for Baqer and Siamak Namazi has been rejected. The Tehran prosecutor stated that the appeals for the Namazis, Wang, and Zaka have been denied. Confirmation of a two-year prison sentence for an individual accused of "collaborating with America" has also been made, while the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for the release of Siamak and Baqer Namazi.