DUBAI: Baquer Namazi, one of 4 US citizens whose freedom Washington had demanded from any revived nuclear deal with Tehran, landed in impartial Oman on Wednesday, his lawyer said.
Namazi, a former UNICEF official, arrested in February 2016 while travelling to Iran to demand the release of his son Siamak, who had been arrested in October last year.
“Mohammad Baquer Namazi, who was released from a crime a few days ago, left Iran today (Wednesday),” Iran’s state TV channel said, publishing footage of Namazi boarding a plane.
Human rights lawyer Jared Genser later showed through Namazi’s cousin that he was traveling with the 85-year-old man on the plane that had arrived in Muscat, Oman’s capital.
The United States has pushed for the deaths of the Namazis and two other Americans as part of efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.
His son Siamak, “also unjustly detained,” has been released and still remains in Iran, a State Department spokesman told AFP.
“Baquer Namazi was unjustly detained in Iran and not allowed to leave the country after serving his sentence, despite his repeated need for urgent medical attention,” the spokesman said.
“We perceived that the lifting of the ban and her son’s leave were similar to her medical needs. “
The United Nations said last week that the couple had been allowed to leave Iran, following a call from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The Namazi were convicted of espionage in October 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Baquer Namazi was released due to health problems in 2018 and is serving his sentence under space arrest.
At least two U. S. citizens are recently detained in Iran.
Businessman Emad Sharqi sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for espionage, and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, also a British national, arrested in 2018 and released on bail in July.
A rescue crusade for the 2015 nuclear deal began in April last year, aiming to get the United States back into the deal by lifting sanctions reimposed by President Donald Trump in 2018 and returning Iran to full compliance.
The signing of the initial agreement was accompanied by the release of the detained Americans and Namazi’s departure was perceived in Iran as a resolution that would be reflected through the other side.
“With the completion of negotiations between Iran and the United States for prisoners from both countries, $7 billion of Iran’s blocked resources will be lost,” the official IRNA news firm reported.
But the U. S. State Department is not allowed to do so. The U. S. Department of Justice on Sunday dismissed the report as “categorically false. “
Billions of dollars have been frozen in the Iranian budget in several countries, China, South Korea and Japan, since the United States reimposed sanctions.
Dear reader,
This segment is about life in the UAE and the data you can’t live without.
Sign up to read and complete Gulfnews. com