Jailed American’s 80-year-old father imprisoned in Iran, family claims

The 80-year-old father of an Iranian-American businessman imprisoned in Iran for months was recently arrested by security forces and placed in an Iranian prison, his wife claimed on Wednesday.

Baquer Namazi, who is also Iranian-American, was arrested in Tehran during the “late evening” on Monday, and appears to have been taken to Iran’s notorious Evin prison, his wife, Effie Namazi, wrote in a message posted on Facebook on Wednesday. 

{mosads}Effie Namazi’s son, Siamak, is also believed to have been held at the prison since October, when he was arrested for reasons that remain unclear.  

“Now both my innocent son Siamak and my Baquer are in prison for no reason,” Effie Namazi worte on Wednesday. “This is a nightmare I can’t describe.”

Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to confirm the arrest during a hearing in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.

“I’m very familiar with this,” Kerry said shortly after news broke about the arrest. “I am engaged on it, specifically. But I am not permitted, due to the privacy reasons, to go into details here.”

Baquer Namazi, Effie wrote in her Facebook post, “has a serious heart and other conditions which requires him to take special heart and other medicine.”

As such, she is “extremely concerned and worried sick” about his condition.

The arrest of Baquer Namazi deepens the mystery about his son’s imprisonment.

It also poses a new hurdle for the Obama administration, which has grappled with occasional hostilities from Iran despite the implementation of the landmark nuclear deal.

Siamak Namazi was arrested after the deal was signed last year. He was not included among the four American captives released as part of an exchange earlier this year, on the eve of the nuclear accord’s implementation.

In addition to Siamak Namazi, U.S. officials continue to believe that Iran has knowledge about the whereabouts for former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who went missing in 2007. 

Earlier this week, Effie Namazi claimed that her son had recently ended a hunger strike of uncertain length that he had launched while in prison.

— Updated at 4:09 p.m.