Imprisoned Iranian American Siamak Namazi says he is happening a seven-day starvation strike — in the future for every year he was left behind in a 2016 prisoner swap — in protest of the Biden administration’s failure to free him and different Americans detained in Iran’s infamous Evin jail.
CBS News
Namazi, 51, knowledgeable President Biden of his starvation strike in a letter noting that he now holds the “unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.”
“All I want sir, 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.”
An lawyer for Namazi advised CBS News that he delivered the letter to nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday. For the previous two years the Biden workforce has unsuccessfully tried to revive a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran whereas additionally concurrently arranging a prisoner launch. Both efforts have stalled and been additional sophisticated by U.S. and Western outcry at Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters and different human rights violations.
The White House has not commented.
The Obama administration secured the launch of 4 Iranian Americans on Jan. 16, 2016, amongst them, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian. Namazi was not included, although the U.S. officers who negotiated the deal had been conscious of his detention and had requested his launch. The U.S. went via with the prisoner swap regardless of Namazi’s continued detention.
Siamak Namazi’s father, Baquer Namazi, who was a United Nations official on the time, was detained in Iran shortly after the U.S. swap throughout an try to go to his detained son. Both Siamak and Baquer Namazi had been subsequently left behind in two extra prisoner exchanges that had been carried out by the Trump administration. Iranian authorities lastly allowed Baquer, now 86, to depart Iran final October for life-saving medical therapy within the United Arab Emirates.
“How does one describe what it feels like to be stripped of your humanity and treated as some sort of extortionately priced item instead?” writes Siamak Namazi. “How do I explain the devastation my family and I are left with after so many half-hearted prisoner deals crumbled last minute”
Siamak Namazi stays incarcerated in Iran’s Evin jail, together with Americans Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz. Mr. Shargi’s household confirmed to CBS News that the three Americans are actually situated in the identical jail ward, since a hearth broke out on the jail final 12 months because the nation was engulfed by nationwide protests which proceed to this present day. U.S. everlasting resident Shahab Dalili can be being detained in Iran.
Siamak Namazi implored the president to deliver all Americans detained in Iran dwelling. “In the past I implored you to reach for your moral compass and find the resolve to bring the US hostages in Iran home,” he wrote. “To no avail. Not only do we remain Iran’s prisoners, but you have not so much as granted our families a meeting.”
“Only the President of the United States has the power to bring us home, should he set his mind to do so,” he added.
In a latest interview with “Face the Nation,” Shargi’s spouse and two daughters shared their frustration that the households of Americans held in Iran haven’t been granted an viewers with the president. The households of Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner, each launched in prisoner exchanges with Russia final 12 months, had been invited to satisfy with the president previous to the offers that secured their launch.
The Shargi household’s frustration was lately compounded when White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre indicated in two press briefings final 12 months that she was not acquainted with his case. “I just don’t understand how I should have faith that my dad’s going to be home, if the White House doesn’t even know his name,” Mr Shargi’s daughter, Hannah, advised “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan.
Here is the textual content of Namazi’s letter to President Biden:
Dear President Biden,
When the Obama Administration unconscionably left me in peril and freed the opposite American residents Iran held hostage on January 16, 2016, the U.S. Government promised my household to have me safely dwelling inside weeks. Yet seven years and two presidents later, I stay caged in Tehran’s infamous Evin jail, holding that lengthy overdue IOU together with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in historical past.
My captors take pleasure in taunting me about that reality by saying issues 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. I inform them whereas I stay extremely indignant concerning the invidious distinction the U.S. Government could make amongst its residents in danger, I always remember that it was not Obama or Trump who imprisoned me on made up prices. That it’s clear whose vile hostage diplomacy has blighted the lives of so many harmless women and men and their households.
Sadly, I’ve a far tougher time replying truthfully to a real query, “How are you, really?” I do know of no phrases that do justice to the ineffable ache I’ve endured since Iran took me hostage in October 2015. Nothing I say may presumably convey the agony of getting to harden myself to this soul crushing callousness and lawlessness. How does one describe what it feels prefer to be stripped of your humanity and handled as some type of extortionately priced merchandise as an alternative? How do I clarify the devastation my household and I are left with after so many half-hearted prisoner offers crumbled final minute, turning freedom right into a chimera? How do I convey the excruciating terror that comes with not realizing when or how this nightmare will finish and even what comes subsequent?
Day after day I ignore the extraordinary ache that I at all times carry with me and do my greatest to combat this grave injustice. You actually will not be stunned to listen to that my tenacity has wrought no constructive outcomes and that my repeated requires the rule of regulation and present of humanity have fallen on deaf ears right here. Perhaps I’m fortunate that’s so. After all, immediately the entire world is witnessing how atrociously this regime can reply to those that dare demand their fundamental rights.
The extent of my captors’ ruthlessness shouldn’t be the one factor I’ve realized way more about throughout these unbearable years. I now know that I should not get my hopes up when senior U.S. officers say that rescuing the hostages in Iran is their highest precedence. Such well-intentioned statements might be repeated 12 months after 12 months with out tangible outcomes. Only the President of the United States has the facility to deliver us dwelling, ought to he set his thoughts to take action. That is why, Mr. Biden, on the seventh anniversary of being left behind by the Obama Administration, I’m as soon as once more risking a direct attraction to you.
In the previous I implored you to succeed in on your ethical compass and discover the resolve to deliver the US hostages in Iran dwelling. To no avail. Not solely will we stay Iran’s prisoners, however you haven’t a lot as granted our households a gathering.
So immediately I really feel compelled to regulate my ask. All I need sir, is one minute of your days’ time for the subsequent seven days dedicated to serious about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran. Just a single minute of your time for every year of my life that I misplaced in Evin jail after the U.S. Government may have saved me however did not. That is all. Alas, given I’m on this cage all I’ve to give you in return is my further struggling. Therefore, I’ll deny myself meals for a similar seven days, within the hope that by doing so you will not deny me this small request.
Sincerely,
Siamak Namazi
Evin Prison
January 16, 2023