ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An elderly dual American-Iranian national held in Iran for over six years has left the country after obtaining permission to do so for medical treatment abroad, arriving in Oman on Wednesday.
Baquer Namazi, 85, is a former UNICEF official who was recently granted permission to leave the country after being released on medical leave back in 2018 while his son was held in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison.
Namazi's son, Siamak, was also released from prison on Saturday, according to the United Nations.
Jared Genser, a Washington-based lawyer representing the Namazi family, announced that “after a short layover, he [Baquer] will be leaving Oman and heading to Abu Dhabi.”
Baquer was arrested in Iran on February 2016 after traveling to the country to urge for the release of his son, after which both men were sentenced to ten years for espionage.
According to Perseus Strategies, a law firm representing the family, Baquer suffers from a severe blockage to his left internal carotid artery (ICA), which significantly increases the chances of a stroke. His health deteriorated over the course of his indictment.
In Abu Dhabi, Namazi is scheduled to undergo an emergency carotid endarterectomy, a procedure used to treat carotid artery disease. Last October, he underwent a similar life-threatening procedure in Iran.
The Islamic republic is notorious for detaining Westerners or those with links abroad to use as bargaining chips to extract concessions from the West in political negotiations.
By Zheen Saman
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