Five Americans remain imprisoned or missing in Iran after Nizar Zakka's release
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with US residency, was released from prison while a number of American citizens remain imprisoned in Iran.
One of the American prisoners in Iran is Zhiyu Wang , a doctoral student in history, who was arrested in August 2016 while on a research trip to Tehran studying his research project on governance and bureaucracy during the Qajar era.
He was tried on espionage charges a year after his arrest and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Mr. Wang's family, the US government and Princeton University have denied the espionage charges against Mr. Wang and called for his release.
Siamak Namazi and his father, Baqer Namazi , two American citizens of Iranian descent, have also been imprisoned in Iran for more than three years.
Siamak Namazi, a manager of an oil trading company, was arrested in October 2015 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of "collaborating with the hostile US government."
Baqer Namazi, who had traveled to Iran to follow up on his son's situation a few months after his arrest, was also arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison on the same charges as his son.
Baqir Namazi, who was 80 years old at the time of his arrest and suffered from a heart condition, worked for UNICEF, which expressed concern about his condition and called for his release.
Michael White , a former US Army soldier, is another American imprisoned in Iran, having been in prison since last summer. He traveled to Mashhad to visit his girlfriend and was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the Islamic Republic's leader and 10 years in prison for posting a private photo on Instagram.
This comes after a spokesman for White's family said the hearings for the American citizen would be held in Persian without an interpreter or lawyer. Mr. White's mother had said that he was a cancer survivor who had been undergoing treatment before traveling to Iran and that remaining in prison would likely put him at risk of death.
In addition to these individuals, Robert (Bob) Levinson , a retired FBI Organized Crime Division employee who had traveled to Kish Island more than 12 years ago to investigate cigarette smuggling, also disappeared in Iran.
Mr. Levinson has not been seen in years, except for a few photos and videos taken in an undisclosed location that show him severely beaten. US government officials believe the Islamic Republic has information about him, but Iran has denied this.
US officials have repeatedly denied the charges against American prisoners in Iran, called for their release, and referred to them as hostages.
In her latest statement on the matter, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders expressed her satisfaction with Nizar Zakka's return to Lebanon on Tuesday, June 11, and said that the US government is calling for the release of American prisoners in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
