Iran Grants Baquer Namazi, 81, Four-Day Release From Evin Prison
28, 2018
Iran’s penal authorities granted a four-day leave on Sunday to Baquer Namazi, the oldest of the United States citizens known to be imprisoned in Iran,
because of his worsening health, Mr. Namazi’s American lawyer said.
Mr. Genser said that under the terms of his temporary release, Mr. Namazi was allowed to rest at his home in Tehran, but
that "he cannot leave Iran and is prohibited from speaking to the media." Mr. Namazi is supposed to be returned to prison on Wednesday.
The Namazis were convicted of collaborating with a hostile power — the United States — in a secretive trial in Iran in October 2016,
and their convictions and 10-year sentences were upheld last November on appeal.
Mr. Goldstein said that neither the United States nor Iran wanted to repeat what happened with Otto F. Warmbier, a University
of Virginia student who fell into a coma while imprisoned in North Korea and died shortly after being sent home.
Iran also contends that the United States is holding a number of Iranian citizens on unjustified grounds.
Parole for the elder Mr. Namazi would be the first serious sign of movement on Iran’s part concerning the Americans known
to be incarcerated there since a group was released when the Iranian nuclear agreement took effect two years ago.