The brother and son of two Iranian-Americans who have reportedly been illegally detained and held in Iran for the past two years is imploring the Trump administration to act quickly to save his family members.
“The situation is extremely serious,” Babak Namazi, whose brother, Siamak, and father, Baquer, told Fox News’ Dana Perino this week. “This has been going on for the past two years and it’s been a nightmare for my family.”
Namazi expressed fears that his brother and father are running out of time and noted that his dad was recently hospitalized while in captivity.
Siamak and Baquer Namazi were both sentenced to 10 years in prison over the charge that they were “collaborating with the enemy,” with Namazi explaining that it was the family’s relationship with the U.S. that was at the center of those charges.
“I fear the worst for him,” he said of his dad. “I really fear the worst.”
Namazi said that he was thankful that Presidential Donald Trump discussed his family’s case on the campaign trail back in 2016 and said that, though it was a “slow start” working with the administration, he has had “very high-level meetings with the White House and other senior officials.” That being said, the process is moving too slowly.
“I am extremely concerned that unless something [is] done in the next month or two my father might die in prison,” Namazi said. “I have full confidence in the president and I know he cares. It’s just an issue … of us running out of time.”
Watch Namazi speak out about the issue below:
In September, a United Nations panel of legal experts concluded that Iran’s detainment of Siamak and Baquer Namazi is illegal and that the father and son should be released, citing violations of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The New York Times has more:
The 10-page opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a panel of five experts in international humanitarian law, is not binding. But its determination that Iran’s imprisonment of the Namazis is illegal and must end could embarrass Mr. Rouhani, who has pledged to make his country more open and tolerant.
Baquer Namazi, 81, and Siamak Namazi, 45, both naturalized American citizens, were convicted last year and sentenced to 10-year terms on charges that have never been explained.
Read more of the details behind the shocking case.