US national security advisor, Jake Sullivan. May 18, 2022
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and US special envoy for Iran Rob Malley have once again demanded the release of US nationals jailed in Iran.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Sullivan pointed out that it has been "five terrible years" since Morad Tahbaz was detained in Iran.
“We again call on Iran to release immediately Morad and fellow Americans Emad Shargi and Siamak Namazi. Reuniting these Americans with their families is a top priority of this Administration,” he added.
In a similar tweet, Robert Malley also described the “wrongfully” detainment of Morad Tahbaz for five years “too many”.
“We have no higher priority than making sure that Morad and fellow wrongfully detained U.S. citizens Emad Shargi and Siamak Namazi return home and are reunited with their loved ones,” reads his tweet.
From left, Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz
Iran routinely arrests people with Western passports and uses them as bargaining chips.
Tara Tahbaz, the daughter of Iranian-British-American Morad Tahbaz, told CNN on the fifth anniversary of her father's arrest that her family still is calling on the United States and United Kingdom to do whatever they can to bring him home.
Morad Tahbaz, 66, is a British-US-Iranian triple national who was arrested in January 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on “espionage” charges.
Siamak Namazi, is a 50-year-old dual-national businessman, who was arrested and imprisoned in October 2015 on charges of "collaborating with the US government".
Emad Shargi is another Iranian-American businessman who was convicted of espionage without a trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020.