Iranian-American citizen Bagher (Baquer) Namazi
Iranian-American citizen Bagher (Baquer) Namazi has finally left Iran after 6.5 years of being a hostage of the Islamic Republic, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Jared Genser posted a photo of Namazi in a plane before leaving Iran for Oman. “He will arrive in Muscat, Oman, and then will travel on to Abu Dhabi for urgent medical treatment,” he said.
The United States said Sunday that reports from Iranian sources of a transfer of funds related to the release of Bagher (Baquer) Namazi and to a furlough for his son Siamak Namazi are categorically false.
According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi appreciated Iran's move to allow Namazi to leave the country during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday.
In response to an inquiry by Iran International, a US State Department spokesperson said that "Any claim that Iran's lifting of a travel ban on Baquer Namazi was part of a deal for a transfer of frozen funds is categorically false,” adding that “We understand that the lifting of the travel ban and his son’s furlough were related to his medical requirement.”
Tehran had claimed that it will receive $7 billion of its frozen funds for a prisoner exchange deal with the United States, but it did not specifically claim that the money is related to the Namazis.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced about Namazis in a statement on Saturday, but the Islamic Republic periodically announces that release of its frozen funds is imminent to prop up its currency.