Mohammad Baquer Namazi (; born 3 December 1936) is an Iranian-American former civil servant who served as Governor of

Khuzestan province Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's R ...

under Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

. He was imprisoned in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

from 2016 until 2022. On October 13, 2015, Iran's

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

arrested his son, Siamak Namazi, while he was in the country on business. The Revolutionary Guards subsequently arrested Baquer as well on February 22, 2016, when he flew into the country to visit his imprisoned son. On October 17, 2016, Iranian authorities sentenced Baquer and Siamak to ten years in prison for "collusion with an enemy state," in reference to the United States. Namazi was released on October 1, 2022, during the

Mahsa Amini protests Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...

. Their release was purportedly in exchange for the release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian assets; however the United States refuted any connection between releasing the hostages and the frozen assets. Namazi's family is a part of the

Bring Our Families Home Bring Our Families Home (BOFH) is a campaign by family members of American hostages and detainees advocating for their immediate release. The James Foley Legacy Foundation claims that there are approximately sixty Americans who are being held ho ...

campaign which advocates to bring home wrongful detainees and hostages. Namazi's image is featured in a 15-foot mural in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Namazi, Baquer 1936 births Living people Iranian prisoners and detainees Iranian civil servants Iranian emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States American people convicted of spying for the United States by the Islamic Republic of Iran

See also

References