عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

UN: American Held in Iran Allowed to Leave, Son Freed from Detention

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid
TT
20
TT

UN: American Held in Iran Allowed to Leave, Son Freed from Detention

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid

The United Nations said Saturday that an Iranian-American blocked from leaving Iran can now depart and that his son was released from detention.

The United States has been pressing for the release of these two men and two other Americans amid efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major western powers.

After an appeal from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Baquer Namazi, 85, "has been permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad," and his son Siamak Namazi, 50, has been released from detention, AFP quoted UN spokesman Stephan Dujarric as saying.

Baquer Namazi is a former UNICEF official who was detained in February 2016 when he went to Iran to press for the release of his son Siamak, who had been arrested in October of the previous year.

Both were convicted of espionage in October 2016 and sentenced to ten years in prison.

The father was released on medical leave in 2018 and had been serving his sentence under house arrest.

The Namazis' lawyer Jared Genser confirmed the news of the release and said the younger Namazi is now at home with his parents in Tehran for the first time in seven years.

"While these are critical first steps, we will not rest until the Namazis can all return to the United States and their long nightmare has finally come to an end," Genser said in a statement.

In June of this year the younger Namazi published a column in The New York Times in which he called on President Joe Biden to strike a prisoner swap deal with Iran, even though talks on reviving the nuclear deal were at an impasse.

The other two Americans held in Iran that Washington wants released are environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 66, and businessman Emad Sharqi, 57.

The drive to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal resumed in late November of last year, after talks were suspended in June as Iran elected ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi.

The 2015 deal -- agreed by Iran, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

But the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and reimposed biting economic sanctions, prompting Tehran to begin rolling back on its commitments.

Most Viewed

 
World

Danish General Says He Is Not Losing Sleep over US Plans for Greenland

FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
TT
20
TT

Danish General Says He Is Not Losing Sleep over US Plans for Greenland

FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

The head of Denmark's Arctic command said the prospect of a US takeover of Greenland was not keeping him up at night after talks with a senior US general last week but that more must be done to deter any Russian attack on the Arctic island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

Trump has not ruled out taking the territory by force and, at a congressional hearing this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not deny that such contingency plans exist.

Such a scenario "is absolutely not on my mind," Soren Andersen, head of Denmark's Joint Arctic Command, told Reuters in an interview, days after what he said was his first meeting with the general overseeing US defense of the area.

"I sleep perfectly well at night," Anderson said. "Militarily, we work together, as we always have."

US General Gregory Guillot visited the US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on June 19-20 for the first time since the US moved Greenland oversight to the Northern command from its European command, the Northern Command said on Tuesday.

Andersen's interview with Reuters on Wednesday were his first detailed comments to media since his talks with Guillot, which coincided with Danish military exercises on Greenland involving one of its largest military presences since the Cold War.

Russian and Chinese state vessels have appeared unexpectedly around Greenland in the past and the Trump administration has accused Denmark of failing to keep it safe from potential incursions. Both countries have denied any such plans.

Andersen said the threat level to Greenland had not increased this year. "We don't see Russian or Chinese state ships up here," he said.

DOG SLED PATROLS

Denmark's permanent presence consists of four ageing inspection vessels, a small surveillance plane, and dog sled patrols tasked with monitoring an area four times the size of France.

Previously focused on demonstrating its presence and civilian tasks like search and rescue, and fishing inspection, the Joint Arctic Command is now shifting more towards territorial defense, Andersen said.

"In reality, Greenland is not that difficult to defend," he said. "Relatively few points need defending, and of course, we have a plan for that. NATO has a plan for that."

As part of the military exercises this month, Denmark has deployed a frigate, F-16s, special forces and extra troops, and increased surveillance around critical infrastructure. They would leave next week when the exercises end, Andersen said, adding that he would like to repeat them in the coming months.

"To keep this area conflict-free, we have to do more, we need to have a credible deterrent," he said. "If Russia starts to change its behavior around Greenland, I have to be able to act on it."

In January, Denmark pledged over $2 billion to strengthen its Arctic defense, including new Arctic navy vessels, long-range drones, and satellite coverage. France offered to deploy troops to Greenland and EU's top military official said it made sense to station troops from EU countries there.

Around 20,000 people live in the capital Nuuk, with the rest of Greenland's 57,000 population spread across 71 towns, mostly on the west coast. The lack of infrastructure elsewhere is a deterrent in itself, Andersen said.

"If, for example, there were to be a Russian naval landing on the east coast, I think it wouldn't be long before such a military operation would turn into a rescue mission," he said.