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| Tehran Sentences Iranian-American Businessman to 10 Years, Report Says | Tehran Sentences Iranian-American Businessman to 10 Years, Report Says |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| TEHRAN — An Iranian-American businessman who has been held in Iran for more than a year, Siamak Namazi, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign government, a prosecutor told the Mizan news agency on Tuesday. | TEHRAN — An Iranian-American businessman who has been held in Iran for more than a year, Siamak Namazi, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign government, a prosecutor told the Mizan news agency on Tuesday. |
| Five other defendants were also convicted and given similar sentences in the case, according to Mizan, which is owned by the Iranian judiciary. One of them was Mr. Namazi’s 80-year-old father, Baquer, who is also a dual citizen. | Five other defendants were also convicted and given similar sentences in the case, according to Mizan, which is owned by the Iranian judiciary. One of them was Mr. Namazi’s 80-year-old father, Baquer, who is also a dual citizen. |
| The prosecutor, Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, identified three of the defendants as Farhad Abdsaleh, Kamran Ghaderi and Alireza Omidvar; it was not immediately clear whether any of them held dual nationality. And he named Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese information technology expert who holds a green card granting him residence in the United States. | |
| Mr. Jafari-Dolatabadi said that “each had been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for espionage and collaboration with the American government,” Mizan reported. The agency said it would provide more information “at a later stage.” | Mr. Jafari-Dolatabadi said that “each had been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for espionage and collaboration with the American government,” Mizan reported. The agency said it would provide more information “at a later stage.” |
| After reaching an agreement with the United States and other world powers to limit its nuclear program, Iran released four detained Iranian-Americans and one American in January, while the United States released seven detained Iranians. | After reaching an agreement with the United States and other world powers to limit its nuclear program, Iran released four detained Iranian-Americans and one American in January, while the United States released seven detained Iranians. |
| Mizan posted a video on Monday that, among other things, appeared to show Siamak Namazi in the first hours after he was arrested. | Mizan posted a video on Monday that, among other things, appeared to show Siamak Namazi in the first hours after he was arrested. |
| Baquer Namazi was a governor under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979, and emigrated to the United States in 1983. He reportedly has heart problems. | |
| In a written statement from the family, Siamak Namazi’s brother Babak called the sentences unjust. “My father has been handed practically a death sentence,” he wrote. “Siamak’s only crime has been to speak out against the negative effects of sanctions” — referring to an essay Siamak Namazi wrote for the Op-Ed section of The New York Times in 2013. | |
| The punishments were called “beyond preposterous” by Reza Marashi, research director of the National Iranian American Council, a Washington-based group that calls for improved relations with Iran but that has been critical of the Iranian government. | |
| Mr. Marashi, who is a friend of Siamak Namazi’s, said by email that Iran’s judiciary had “violated its own laws and constitutional guarantees” in the prosecution of Mr. Namazi and his father. | Mr. Marashi, who is a friend of Siamak Namazi’s, said by email that Iran’s judiciary had “violated its own laws and constitutional guarantees” in the prosecution of Mr. Namazi and his father. |
| “It should now be clear that this is nothing more than hostage taking, carried out by the most extreme elements in Iran’s government,” he wrote. “As those elements release new details of Siamak and Baquer’s imprisonment to Iranian media, they are trying to leverage the United States into making a trade of some sort.” | “It should now be clear that this is nothing more than hostage taking, carried out by the most extreme elements in Iran’s government,” he wrote. “As those elements release new details of Siamak and Baquer’s imprisonment to Iranian media, they are trying to leverage the United States into making a trade of some sort.” |
| A number of people with dual Iranian and foreign nationality have been arrested in Iran by agents connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps since the nuclear agreement was struck, including an Iranian-American who was arrested in August. Some of those detainees’ names are publicly known, but others have not been publicized because family members have asked the news media not to do so. | A number of people with dual Iranian and foreign nationality have been arrested in Iran by agents connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps since the nuclear agreement was struck, including an Iranian-American who was arrested in August. Some of those detainees’ names are publicly known, but others have not been publicized because family members have asked the news media not to do so. |
| Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, a prominent Iranian lawyer who has defended several dual nationals, said on Tuesday that the Namazi family had asked for his services but that the Iranian judiciary had not approved him to represent them, exercising a power given to the judiciary by a new security law. | Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, a prominent Iranian lawyer who has defended several dual nationals, said on Tuesday that the Namazi family had asked for his services but that the Iranian judiciary had not approved him to represent them, exercising a power given to the judiciary by a new security law. |
| “I don’t know who their lawyer is — maybe he was appointed by the judiciary,” Mr. Alizadeh Tabatabaei said. | “I don’t know who their lawyer is — maybe he was appointed by the judiciary,” Mr. Alizadeh Tabatabaei said. |
| Babak Namazi wrote in his statement that the trial had lasted only “a few hours.” | Babak Namazi wrote in his statement that the trial had lasted only “a few hours.” |
| The State Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “deeply concerned” about reports that Siamak and Baquer Namazi had been given prison sentences. It did not mention the other defendants. The statement called “for the immediate release of all U.S. citizens unjustly detained in Iran,” including the Namazis. | The State Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “deeply concerned” about reports that Siamak and Baquer Namazi had been given prison sentences. It did not mention the other defendants. The statement called “for the immediate release of all U.S. citizens unjustly detained in Iran,” including the Namazis. |
| Siamak Namazi is a graduate of Tufts and Rutgers who once ran a consulting company in Iran that advised multinational companies like Royal Dutch Shell about how to navigate the country’s complex business landscape. He was socially prominent and proudly drove an eye-catching green Ford Mustang convertible. When the hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, he left the country, eventually settling in Dubai. | Siamak Namazi is a graduate of Tufts and Rutgers who once ran a consulting company in Iran that advised multinational companies like Royal Dutch Shell about how to navigate the country’s complex business landscape. He was socially prominent and proudly drove an eye-catching green Ford Mustang convertible. When the hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, he left the country, eventually settling in Dubai. |
| Around the time he was arrested in Iran in September 2015, an online news outlet in the United States, The Daily Beast, published a long article saying that Mr. Namazi and his family were a driving force behind the “Iran lobby” in the United States, and that they stood to profit from the lifting of sanctions following the nuclear deal. The identity of the writer of the article was shielded with a pseudonym. | Around the time he was arrested in Iran in September 2015, an online news outlet in the United States, The Daily Beast, published a long article saying that Mr. Namazi and his family were a driving force behind the “Iran lobby” in the United States, and that they stood to profit from the lifting of sanctions following the nuclear deal. The identity of the writer of the article was shielded with a pseudonym. |
| Baquer Namazi was arrested in Iran in February, apparently after traveling there in the hope of negotiating his son’s release. The hard-line, state-run newspaper Kayhan published a report after Baquer Namazi’s arrest, accusing him of being a spy and of teaching espionage to his son. | |
| Iran’s judiciary is controlled by the country’s hard-line faction, who regard people with dual Iranian and foreign citizenship as security risks. Collaborating with a foreign government and espionage are two of the charges in the judiciary’s legal arsenal that may be used to detain and prosecute dual nationals. | Iran’s judiciary is controlled by the country’s hard-line faction, who regard people with dual Iranian and foreign citizenship as security risks. Collaborating with a foreign government and espionage are two of the charges in the judiciary’s legal arsenal that may be used to detain and prosecute dual nationals. |
| Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent who was released by Iran in January, was convicted of spying, but the judiciary has never publicly offered any specifics or any evidence to support the charge. | Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent who was released by Iran in January, was convicted of spying, but the judiciary has never publicly offered any specifics or any evidence to support the charge. |
| Sometimes the judiciary does not even announce what the charges are. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds both British and Iranian nationalities, was sentenced in September to five years in prison on what were called “secret charges.” | Sometimes the judiciary does not even announce what the charges are. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds both British and Iranian nationalities, was sentenced in September to five years in prison on what were called “secret charges.” |
| Analysts say the prosecutions of dual nationals are really attempts by hard-liners to gain leverage for Iran in international negotiations, and to impede the normalization of diplomatic ties between Iran and the United States, which some Iranian officials still refer to as the Great Satan. | Analysts say the prosecutions of dual nationals are really attempts by hard-liners to gain leverage for Iran in international negotiations, and to impede the normalization of diplomatic ties between Iran and the United States, which some Iranian officials still refer to as the Great Satan. |
| The convictions announced on Tuesday were setbacks for President Hassan Rouhani, who signed the nuclear agreement and has been reaching out to the West to improve political and commercial relations. | The convictions announced on Tuesday were setbacks for President Hassan Rouhani, who signed the nuclear agreement and has been reaching out to the West to improve political and commercial relations. |
| Mr. Rouhani has not spoken out directly about the arrests of dual nationals, but in a broadcast speech last November, he accused some hard-line media outlets of acting as “undercover police” and said that “they even tell their audience who is going to be arrested tomorrow.” | Mr. Rouhani has not spoken out directly about the arrests of dual nationals, but in a broadcast speech last November, he accused some hard-line media outlets of acting as “undercover police” and said that “they even tell their audience who is going to be arrested tomorrow.” |
| Nader Karimi Joni, an analyst close to the government, said on Tuesday, “Once again we are witnessing the judiciary acting against President Rouhani.” | Nader Karimi Joni, an analyst close to the government, said on Tuesday, “Once again we are witnessing the judiciary acting against President Rouhani.” |