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WORLD NEWSSaturday 31 October 2015
Iranian-American reportedly detained in Iran; 4th in custody
JON GAMBRELL In this Nov. 2, 2013 file photo, a veiled Iranian woman walks this time,” Michael Tran, a wrote several pieces calling
ADAM SCHRECK past a mural depicting the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah State Department spokes- for improved ties between
Associated Press Khomeini, and national Iranian flag, painted on the wall of the man, said late Thursday. Iran and the U.S., and urg-
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- former U.S. Embassy, in Tehran, Iran. Namazi is a son of Bagher ing Iranian-Americans to
ates (AP) — An Iranian- Namazi, a former UNI- act as a bridge between
American businessman Associated Press CEF representative who the rival governments. In
who advocated better ties once served as governor 2013, Namazi wrote about
between Iran and the U.S. as Iranian conservatives multilateral talks trying to of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan shortages of medical sup-
reportedly has been arrest- warned against easing end Syria’s civil war. province under the U.S.- plies caused by interna-
ed and imprisoned in Teh- hostilities with the U.S. Reports of Namazi’s impris- backed Shah Mohammad tional sanctions on Iran
ran, becoming the fourth On Friday, Iran and the U.S. onment follow the convic- Reza Pahlavi. The family in an opinion piece pub-
U.S. citizen known to be sat down together in new tion of other Iranian-Amer- fled after the 1979 Islamic lished by The International
held there at a time when icans, notably Washing- Revolution, but appears Herald Tribune. He urged
hard-liners are pushing ton Post journalist Jason to have kept business ties the West to “relax and ra-
back against the country’s Rezaian. Meanwhile, an in Iran, and the younger tionalize” the sanctions
nuclear deal with world Internet freedom group Namazi traveled back sev- to allow medical goods
powers. said a Washington-based eral times. into Iran, or “more Iranian
The reasons why Siamak Lebanese citizen recently His last known employer men, women and children
Namazi would be de- disappeared while on a was Crescent Petroleum, a will suffer needlessly.” Still,
tained were not immedi- trip to Tehran. firm based in Sharjah in the Namazi raised suspicions
ately known. Namazi was arrested ear- United Arab Emirates that among hard-liners in Iran.
Namazi, the son of a poli- lier this month while visit- has been locked for years In May, a hard-line Iranian
tician from the era of the ing Tehran, according to in a legal dispute with Iran website called Fardanews
shah, had been specifi- the Wall Street Journal, over natural gas that is po- specifically pointed to him
cally criticized in hard-line The New York Times and tentially worth billions of in a highly critical article,
commentary this year The Washington Post, all dollars in damages. A rep- accusing him of being part
of which relied on anony- resentative of the compa- of efforts to allow the West
mous sources. Attempts ny said Namazi traveled to to infiltrate Iran.
by The Associated Press to Tehran in mid-July on a pri- “Siamak has always played
reach relatives of Namazi, vate visit and “at the time the role of bridge between
who has a home in Wash- of his reported detention the U.S. government with
ington, weren’t immedi- was no longer an employ- some notorious local fig-
ately successful. ee of the company.” ures in the country,” the
Iranian officials could not The representative de- website said. “His allies and
be reached for comment clined to be identified, cit- family have been ground-
Friday, part of the Iranian ing the political sensitivities preparing for soft infiltration
weekend, and state media surrounding the issue. of the U.S. in Iran.”
did not mention Namazi. Namazi identified himself In recent weeks, Iranian
The U.S. State Depart- as the managing direc- businessmen with links to
ment declined to confirm tor of Atieh Bahar, a con- foreign companies have
Namazi’s arrest. sulting company in Iran, in been detained, interro-
“We’re aware of recent a 2006 interview with the gated and warned against
reports of the possible ar- AP. An Atieh Bahar official, becoming involved in eco-
rest in Iran of a U.S. citizen. who refused to be identi- nomic monopolies con-
We’re looking into these re- fied, said Namazi had not trolled by Iran’s powerful
ports and don’t have any- worked with the firm “for Revolutionary Guard, The
thing further to provide at eight or 10 years.” Wall Street Journal report-
In online articles he wrote ed, citing businessmen in-
for Iranian.com, Namazi side and outside of Iran.
says he graduated from Among them is Washing-
Tufts University in 1993 and ton-based Lebanese citi-
returned to Iran for a time. zen Nizar Zakka, who dis-
“This land of my dreams appeared Sept. 18 while
was all I thought about. visiting Tehran for a state-
My passion for return was sponsored conference,
so great, it hurt,” he wrote according to a statement
in 1997. “In Iran, you are ei- from the Washington-
ther experiencing heaven based group IJMA3-USA,
or hell. There are very few which advocates for In-
in-betweens.” ternet freedom across the
In recent years, Namazi Middle East. q
