Thu Sep 19 07:27:34 UTC 2024: ## Former Iranian-American Prisoner Siamak Namazi Speaks Out on Controversial Release

**Tehran, Iran** – Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American who spent eight years imprisoned in Iran after being accused of collaborating with a foreign government, has given a rare interview detailing the harsh treatment he endured and his mixed feelings about his controversial release last year.

Namazi, who was arrested in 2015 while visiting his native country for a memorial service, said he was “both very happy to be released and deeply troubled that I was being traded like a slave” as part of a prisoner swap involving the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets.

In the interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, Namazi described being held in the infamous Evin prison, enduring lengthy interrogations and being denied justice by a system he believes profited from his imprisonment. “I lost Iran in the process,” he said, lamenting the eight years he spent in prison and the toll it took on his connection to his homeland.

Despite his release, Namazi recounted the bizarre circumstances surrounding his departure from Iran. He and four other American citizens were held under constant surveillance by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at a highly secured hotel in Tehran. The guards, wary of hackers determining their location, kept their whereabouts secret and shadowed the prisoners even when they were granted limited freedom to move around.

The release of the five Americans, which included environmental activist Morad Tahbaz, was ultimately part of a prisoner exchange deal that involved the transfer of around $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to Qatar. This agreement came under heavy criticism after Hamas, a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group with ties to Iran, launched an attack on Israel.

Namazi, who has since become a vocal advocate for other prisoners, criticized Iran’s use of its citizens as bargaining chips. He urged Tehran to release remaining prisoners through legitimate legal processes rather than through backroom deals.

“Don’t trade them. Don’t barter them,” Namazi said. “Release them using the laws of the Islamic Republic, then we can sit down and talk. And in my opinion, this is a very reasonable starting point.”

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