American imprisoned in Iran since 2015 begins hunger strike
Mike Brest
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An American who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than seven years began a hunger strike on Monday, which marked the anniversary of a prisoner exchange from which he was excluded.
Siamak Namazi, 51, an Iranian American businessman, has been imprisoned since October 2015 and, in an open letter addressed to President Joe Biden, described himself as having the “unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.” In Namazi’s time at Evin Prison, he has endured prolonged periods of solitary confinement, denied access to medical treatment, and physical and psychological torture, according to a press release from his lawyer, Jared Genser, who also released the open letter.
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“All I want [President Biden], is one minute of your days’ time for the next seven days devoted to thinking about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran,” Namazi wrote. “Just a single minute of your time for each year of my life that I lost in Evin prison after the U.S. Government could have saved me but didn’t. That is all. Alas, given I am in this cage all I have to offer you in return is my additional suffering. Therefore, I will deny myself food for the same seven days, in the hope that by doing so you won’t deny me this small request.”
The United States and Iran executed a prisoner exchange when the Iran nuclear deal went into effect, though Namazi was excluded from it. He was also excluded from subsequent swaps.
At the time of the 2016 deal, Namazi said in the letter, “The U.S. Government promised my family to have me safely home within weeks. Yet seven years and two presidents later, I remain caged in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, holding that long overdue IOU along with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.”
He also wrote that the Iranians taunt him because the U.S. government has not secured his release yet and questioned Washington’s ability to get him home.
“My captors enjoy taunting me about that fact by saying things like: ‘How can your beloved America be so heartless? Not one but two U.S. presidents freed others but left you behind!’ Yet my frank reply deprives them of any satisfaction,” the letter continued. “I tell them while I remain highly indignant about the invidious distinction the U.S. Government can make among its citizens at risk, I never forget that it was not Obama or Trump who imprisoned me on made up charges. That it is clear whose vile hostage diplomacy has blighted the lives of so many innocent men and women and their families.”
“The extent of my captors’ ruthlessness is not the only thing I’ve learned far more about during these insufferable years,” he added. “I now know that I shouldn’t get my hopes up when senior U.S. officials say that rescuing the hostages in Iran is their highest priority.”
Namazi’s father, Baquer Namazi, was detained in 2016 when he tried visiting his son. Both were convicted on charges alleging they cooperated with a hostile government, a reference to the U.S. Baquer was allowed to leave Iran last year to seek medical treatment.
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State Department special envoy Rob Malley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last May that they are engaging in “indirect” talks with Iran regarding Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz, the latter of whom are also being detained in Iran.
“It is not easy,” he said. “As you could imagine, Iran is making requests that are very difficult to meet and sometimes are impossible to meet. But we are continuing, and we will not stop until all four of them are home and reunited with their loved ones.”