2023-09-18 17:16:49
Siamak Namazi arrives in Doha after his release (Archyde.com)
“As a hostage, they stole 2,898 days of what should have been the best days of my life and supplanted them with torment,” said Siamak Namazi, one of the five American citizens released by Iran, this Monday after landing at Doha international airport. within the framework of a prisoner exchange with the United States.
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In a statement published by his lawyer, Namazi, imprisoned in the Iranian prison of Evin since 2015, offered heartfelt gratitude to all the people who were involved in his release along with four other colleagues, accused of espionage and maintaining contacts with the U.S. government.
“Today I would not be free if it were not for all of you, who did not allow the world to forget me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for ensuring that I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison,” she noted.
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Namazi assured that he has “been dreaming of this day” for the last eight years, but lamented that he still feels “a painful and deep sense of guilt for breathing freely while so many brave people (…) continue to languish behind those walls.” ”.
Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz are received after being released (Archyde.com)
“They are detained for demanding the dignity and freedom to which every human being is inherently entitled; for reporting the truth; for worshiping their God; for being a woman,” she denounced.
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In this sense, he recalled that Ahmedreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish doctor, has been on death row for almost eight years on “false charges”, as well as environmentalists Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Houman Jokar, Taher Ghadirian, Amirhossein Khaleghi and Sam Rajabi, or even Sepehr Ziaei, imprisoned for belonging to the Baha’i religious minority.
“The only message Iran’s leaders are sending to the world by imprisoning such extraordinary people is that they delight in the infinite depth of their gratuitous cruelty,” Namazi said.
The five citizens of the North American country will be transferred to Washington DC
Thus, he expressed his gratitude to the Qatari, Omani, Swiss, and British authorities and, especially, to the American president, Joe Biden, for “putting the lives of American citizens above politics” and “putting an end to this nightmare.” .
However, he warned that “much remains to be done” because “for the past 44 years, the Iranian regime has mastered the unpleasant game of caging innocent Americans and other foreign citizens and marketing their freedom.”
The exchange of prisoners between Tehran and Washington occurred after 6,000 million dollars (just over 5,573 million euros) of funds belonging to Iran were deposited today in six Iranian accounts in two banks in Qatar, which acted as a mediator between the two rivals.
(With information from EFE)
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