Following Ransom Payment to Tehran, Iran Unjustly Sentences U.S. Citizens Siamak & Baquer Namazi

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today called on Iran to release two U.S. citizens, Siamak Namazi and his elderly father Baquer Namazi, who were sentenced to ten years in Iranian prison.

"Following the deeply flawed and misguided Iran nuclear deal, as well as the $1.7 billion cash ransom payment, the Obama administration has continued to offer Tehran unwarranted concessions, exceptions, and side agreements, to which the Iranian government has predictably responded with escalating hostility toward Americans and our interests-including the unjust detention and sentencing of Siamak and Baquer Namazi. I join the international community in calling for their immediate release," said Senator Ayotte.

Following the administration's secret ransom payment to secure the release of Americans held hostage in Tehran, Ayotte sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, as well as a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury.

In addition, Ayotte helped introduce the No Ransom Payments Act of 2016, which would prohibit the federal government from paying ransom, and stop payments to Iran from the U.S. Treasury Department's Judgment Fund until Iran returns the ransom money it received and pays American victims of Iranian terrorism what they are owed.

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