Washington — The spouse and two daughters of Emad Shargi, an American who has been detained in Iran for greater than 4 years, are urging the White House and President Biden to step up their efforts to safe his launch and return him to the United States.
In an interview with “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Hannah Shargi, Emad’s daughter, stated her household has not met or spoken to Mr. Biden since publicly requesting a gathering this summer time. The Shargis have requested to sit down down with the president each as a household and alongside different households whose family members are detained overseas.
The president met with the households of Brittney Griner and Trevor Reed earlier than they had been launched from Russia, in addition to the household of Paul Whelan, who stays held within the nation. He has additionally met with the household of Austin Tice, who has been lacking in Syria since 2012. In current months, the households of Americans held in Iran have been requesting their very own conferences with Mr. Biden.
“I just don’t understand why he isn’t meeting with us. I think it would make a big difference to sit down with him,” Hannah Shargi stated. “I want to tell him about my dad. I want to tell him how scared we are, how pressing this matter is and how time sensitive it really is.”
While Hannah Shargi famous that her household speaks typically with the State Department, she stated Mr. Biden’s involvement is essential.
“At the end of the day, I think what we really need as the White House to be more involved. That is really where the decision is going to come from,” she stated. “At the end of the day, the president has the authority to make these kinds of big decisions. And that’s really who we need to speak with now.”
Hannah Shargi stated her father may have been killed in a hearth that broke out in October at Tehran’s Evin jail, the place he’s being held. At least eight folks had been killed within the blaze. It took two days earlier than the household obtained phrase that Shargi was secure.
Siamak Namazi, one other American held for the previous seven years in Evin jail, additionally survived the blaze. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American who was arrested in Iran in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in jail, was not current within the jail throughout the fireplace.
Hannah Shargi stated her father inhaled tear gasoline and smoke from the blaze, underscoring the “pressing” nature of securing his launch.
“There’s really no time to wait,” she stated. ‘We do not know, actually, what is going on to occur everyday. So I simply need to sit down with the president and inform him our story and ask that he does all the things he can to convey our dad house. I imply, we stay in Washington, D.C. We’ll come any time he has out there for us.”
Emad Shargi, an American-Iranian dual citizen, was first imprisoned in 2018. While he was released on bail and cleared of charges, Iranian authorities refused to give back his American passport, and he remained in Iran. In November 2020, Shargi was told he had been convicted in absentia on charges that remain unclear to the family and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Complicating matters is the deterioration of already troubled U.S.-Iran relations following the collapse of nuclear talks, Tehran’s recent alliance with Russia and the regime’s crackdown on protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in custody for allegedly not covering her head in compliance with Islamic law.
The Biden administration argues it has kept hostage negotiations separate from the other diplomatic efforts and still hopes for a breakthrough. A hostage swap between the U.S. and Iran has been floated, but U.S. officials tell CBS News that Tehran had made extreme and unacceptable demands.
In an interview with CBS News in June, the Shargi family urged Mr. Biden to set aside politics and do what he could to bring Emad Shargi back to the U.S.
Their renewed appeal to the president Sunday comes after Griner, a WNBA star, was released from Russia in a prisoner exchange with Viktor Bout, a infamous worldwide arms seller who was serving a 25-year sentence within the U.S. Griner landed in Texas early Friday, and her release has drawn attention to other Americans who remain unjustly detained overseas.
Bahareh Shargi, Emad’s wife, told “Face the Nation” that she was “ecstatic” to listen to of Griner’s launch.
“Brittney should have never been detained, she’s an American citizen that was in Russia for no good reason at all. And I was very, very happy that she’s back home,” she stated. “It also gives me hope because it means that this can be done for others, such as my husband and other Americans who are held in Iran.”
But Bahareh Shargi stated she has been hopeful that Mr. Biden would assist safe her husband’s launch for the reason that first weeks of his presidency, when he stated he would prioritize releasing Americans wrongfully held overseas.
“I’ve had this hope in my heart that this president is going to bring Emad home. And yet I have seen no signs,” she stated. “It’s just been talk, but nothing really to show us that he’s doing anything or his administration, really, to bring Emad and the other Americans home.”
Compounding the household’s frustration was White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s unfamiliarity with Emad’s case when she was requested final Thursday what Mr. Biden is doing to free Americans held in Iran.
Jean-Pierre advised reporters that she didn’t know his particular case and subsequently couldn’t communicate as to if there was any outreach from the White House to the household. She reiterated Mr. Biden’s dedication to securing the discharge of American residents who’re wrongfully detained overseas.
Hannah Shargi, although, stated it was “definitely hard to hear that she did not know my father’s name.”
“She was not familiar with the case, and deferred us to the State Department. Once again,” she stated. “She was asked the same question in June, and also said that she was not familiar with his name or the case. And 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.”
Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, stated Sunday that the White House “committed to a meeting with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan prior to the release of Brittney Griner on Thursday.” The Shargi household confirmed to CBS News that NSC officers have reached out to ask them to satisfy with Sullivan.