Jailed US citizen in Iran launches hunger strike, writes to Biden

Siamak Namazi, an American citizen detained in Iran, launched a hunger strike this week to mark seven years since he was left behind in a prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran. In a letter addressed to the US President Joe Biden, Nawazi called upon Biden to think of him every day for the seven days he said he will carry out the hunger strike.

Niazi has been charged with trying to overthrow the state of Iran, an accusation he denies.

"In the past I implored you to reach for your moral compass and find the resolve to bring the US hostages in Iran home. To no avail. Not only do we remain Iran’s prisoners, but you have not so much as granted our families a meeting," wrote Namazi, who is one of three Americans detained in Iran. Other than him, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz have also been imprisoned there for years.

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"All I want sir, is one minute of your days’ time for the next seven days devoted to thinking about the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran," Namazi wrote to Biden. "Just a single minute of your time for each year of my life that I lost in Evin prison after the U.S. Government could have saved me but didn’t. That is all."

"Alas, given I am in this cage all I have to offer you in return is my additional suffering. Therefore, I will deny myself food for the same seven days, in the hope that by doing so you won’t deny me this small request," he said.

Namazi was blocked from leaving Iran after visiting in July 2015. He reportedly underwent months of interrogations before being arrested in October 2015. He was not included in the prisoner swap with Iran in January 2016 that led to the release of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini. A fifth American was also separately released at that time.

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"When the Obama Administration unconscionably left me in peril and freed the other American citizens Iran held hostage on January 16, 2016, the U.S. Government promised my family to have me safely home within weeks," Namazi wrote in his letter on Monday. "Yet seven years and two presidents later, I remain caged in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, holding that long overdue IOU along with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history."

A US National Security Council spokesperson said the Biden administration remains "committed to securing the freedom of Siamak Namazi and we are working tirelessly to bring him home along with all US citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz."

"Our priority is bringing all our wrongfully detained citizens home safely and as soon as possible and resolving the cases of missing and abducted US citizens," the spokesperson said.

The US does not share diplomatic relations with Tehran.

Washington, however, has called on the government in Tehran to release the detained Americans. Tensions between the West and Iranian regime have risen in the wake of crackdown on protests that erupted in Iran following the custodial death of Mahsa Al-Amini by the country's morality police.

Last week, the governments in the western countries condemned the execution of Alireza Akbari, a dual British-Iranian citizen who was hanged after being accused of espionage and corruption.

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