Baquer Namazi, Dual-National Prisoner, Hospitalized
Baquer Namazi, an Iranian-American dual-national prisoner in Iran, has been hospitalized due to low blood pressure and irregular heart rate. Reuters news agency reported this news citing the prisoner’s lawyer.
Reuters reported Wednesday evening (December 27 / January 17) quoting Baquer Namazi’s lawyer, one of the dual-national prisoners in Iran, that the prisoner has been transferred to a hospital due to heart problems, including low blood pressure and irregular heart rate.
According to “Jared Genser,” Mr. Namazi’s lawyer, since his arrest in February 2016, this is the fourth time his client has been hospitalized. Baquer Namazi is 81 years old and has been in detention since March 2016.
Mr. Namazi was formerly an official at UNICEF and governor of Khuzestan Province before Iran’s 1979 revolution. He came to Iran to follow up on his son’s situation and was arrested. His son, Siamak Namazi, was also arrested in September 2015 during a trip to Iran.
Jared Genser, the American lawyer for the Namazis, had previously announced that both Siamak Namazi and his father are in poor health condition. They have been subjected to various physical and psychological pressures. He stated that he is separately concerned about their health condition.
The Namazis have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Their charge is stated as “cooperation with hostile foreign governments.” Their appeal for retrial has been rejected.
Currently, at least four American citizens are imprisoned in Iran. In addition to the Namazis, Xiao Wang, a Chinese-American citizen, and Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen residing in America, are also detained in Iran.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently in a resolution identified the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as responsible for the detention of this country’s citizens and accused the Islamic Republic of taking them “hostage.”
Source: DW
