The White House on Wednesday publicly waded into a delicate hostage situation in Iran, condemning the Iranian government's decision to return an elderly American citizen who is seriously ill back to Evin prison after granting him a weeklong medical leave.
President Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement expressing the Trump administration's deep concern over Tehran's decision to return Baquer Namazi, 81, back to prison, defying a recommendation by Iran's medical examiner and Namazi's personal doctors that he receive at least a three-month leave to receive appropriate medical care.
Sanders said the White House holds Iran "fully accountable" for Namazi's well-being and called for his immediate and unconditional release of all U.S. citizens "unjustly detained" and missing in Iran, including Baquer Namazi, his son Siamak Namazi, Xiyue Wang, and Robert Levinson.
"We understand the decision to return Mr. Namazi to prison was made against the strong advice of his doctors and the Iranian regime's own medical examiner," Sanders said in her statement. "Mr. Namazi, who is 81 years old, is serving a 10-year sentence on false charges. He has been hospitalized four times in the last year and continues to suffer from life-threatening heart problems."
"He remains in urgent need of sustained medical care, and the United States Government holds Iran fully accountable for his well-being," Sanders continued.
On Tuesday the Iranian government abruptly returned Baquer Namazi back to prison, a decision that contradicted recommendations from Iran's medical examiner, according to his family and attorney. The attorney said the medical examiner called family members and told him he recommended an extended three-month release from prison.
The Tuesday decision shocked and angered the Namazi family who had hoped last week's medical leave was a sign that the Tehran would release him on humanitarian grounds.
His son, Babak Namazi, who is in Washington this week for meetings with top Trump administration officials, told reporters Tuesday that the decision is a "spectacular display of cruelty" against his father, who suffers from a serious heart condition.
The Iranian government granted Baquer Namazi a one-week leave after he experienced a precipitous drop in blood pressure in late January. His family and attorney Jared Genser said his health has continued to deteriorate while in prison over the last two years.
Genser has said the Baquer Namazi's health is failing rapidly and his return to prison is "tantamount to a death sentence." Genser noted that Namazi had emergency surgery last fall to install a pacemaker to keep him alive and has lost 30 pounds during his detention. Before his imprisonment, Namazi underwent triple bypass surgery.
Baquer Namazi was imprisoned in Iran in February 2016 while trying to press for the release of his son, Siamak Namazi, who was jailed during a visit to Iran in the fall of 2015. Baquer is a retired UNICEF official and Siamak is an Iranian-American businessman.
Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison for "cooperating with the hostile American government." Siamak Namazi has spent months of his detention in solitary confinement and has been beaten and tased during intense interrogations, according to his attorney.
While Genser declined to discuss details of any negotiations the Trump administration has had regarding the release of Americans held in Iran, he stressed that Iran, not the United States, has demonstrated an unwillingness to engage on the issue.
"The responsibility falls on the backs of Iran and its unwillingness to have any discussions to get this done," he said. "We have been grateful for the support of the Trump administration and obviously we continue to need it."