US citizens sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran

An Iranian-American businessman and his elderly father have been sentenced to 10 years in prison each for violating security laws, Iran’s state-run judicial news agency reported on Tuesday.

Siamak Namazi is believed to have been in Iranian captivity for roughly a year, after reportedly trying to bridge ties between the U.S. and Iran. His father, Baquer Namazi, a former United Nations official, was detained in the country in February.

{mosads}According to the Mizan news agency, the two men were sentenced to a decade in prison “for cooperating with the hostile American government.”

Baquer Namazi’s wife has claimed that the elderly man has a “serious” ailment affecting his heart, among other health issues.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the reports, and called the arrests of father and son “unjustified.”

“We join recent calls by international organizations and U.N. human rights experts for the immediate release of all U.S. citizens unjustly detained in Iran, including Siamak and Baquer Namazi, so that they can return to their families,” Toner said in a statement Tuesday.

News of the sentencing on Tuesday follows the release of a video that circulated on Monday, which featured Siamak Namazi as well as images of 10 American sailors detained by Iran in January. The video angered American critics of Tehran, who accuse the government of acting with new boldness following the international nuclear deal that went into full effect early this year.

Siamak Namazi was not included in the handful of American prisoners let free from Iran on the eve of that deal entering into full effect. Critics of the Obama administration’s outreach to Iran have accused the U.S. of paying a “ransom” payment of $1.7 billion, which was meant to settle an outstanding debt.

– Updated at 12:41 p.m.