Baquer Namazi’s Brain Artery Surgery ‘Successful’; Jared Genser: Iran Should Allow His Client to Leave the Country

Baquer Namazi was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 after traveling to Iran on charges of “cooperation with a hostile government.” After several years, due to medical complications and inability to endure imprisonment, Namazi was released after his prison sentence was commuted to a financial penalty. However, this American citizen, who had traveled to Iran to address his son Siamak Namazi’s legal case, has since been banned from leaving the country.

The Namazi family’s lawyer submitted a letter last month to the U.S. President and the UN Secretary-General requesting that they encourage Islamic Republic authorities to allow Baquer Namazi to leave Iran for surgery. Jared Genser stated that Baquer Namazi requires urgent surgery due to 95 to 97 percent arterial blockage.

Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, wrote on October 3 in a tweet regarding this matter: “Baquer Namazi requires urgent surgery and the Iranian government must allow him to seek medical care to save his life.”

Secretary Blinken, noting that approximately six years have passed since Mr. Namazi last saw his children, said: “At such a time, all members of his family should be around him.”

Javid Rahman, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, on Monday in his latest report to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, referred to dual nationals imprisoned in Iran and mentioned Baquer Namazi by name. He stated that Mr. Namazi’s life is at risk given his advanced age and need for surgery.

Currently, besides Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer Namazi (Iranian-American citizens), several other dual and multiple nationals are imprisoned in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Morad Tahbaz, Mehrdad Raouf, and Anousheh Ashouri (Iranian-British citizens), Ahmad Reza Jalali (Iranian-Swedish researcher), Masoud Massaheb and Kamran Ghaderi (Iranian-Austrian citizens), and Nahid Taghavi (Iranian-German citizen).