The friend asked not to be identified.
Advertisement
“NIAC is deeply troubled by unconfirmed reports that Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American residing in Dubai, has been detained by Iranian authorities”, the organisation said in a statement.
In a similar reaction to the claim, US State Department Spokesman John Kirby stressed that “the discussions with Iran over Syria and what’s going on in Syria took place inside the multilateral setting”. “We’re looking into these reports and don’t have anything further to provide at this time”. That agreement reached earlier this year promises Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
In addition to Namazi’s detention, an Internet freedom group said a Washington-based Lebanese citizen recently disappeared while on a trip to Tehran.
Given the guidelines of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, and considering the previous experiences with Americans, Iran is not supposed to hold talks with the U.S. on any topic other than the nuclear issue, he added.
Namazi lives in Dubai and works as the head of strategic planning for Crescent Petroleum, an oil and gas company in the United Arab Emirates. He was detained while visiting his family in Tehran and reportedly lodged in Evin Prison in the Iranian capital. The Times quoted unnamed people close to Namazi. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach relatives of Namazi, who has a home in Washington, weren’t immediately successful. He later referred questions to an outside public-relations firm that did not respond. Namazi was a proponent of greater engagement between the US and Iran.
Advertisement
Dual citizen Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent, was arrested in Iran in July 2014.
