American who was detained in Iran returns home

Baquer Namazi, an elderly American who was wrongfully detained in Iran, is on his way out of the country for surgery in the United Arab Emirates, his family said on Wednesday.

Namazi, 85, has been in jail for more than six years in Iran and is traveling to the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi to clear out a severe blockade of his left internal carotid artery ICA, which puts him at very high risk for a stroke, the statement said. He will pass through Oman on his way to Abu Dhabi.

It is impossible to articulate and describe how I am feeling. After so long, I am grateful that I will soon be able to embrace my father, Babak Namazi, Baquer Namazi's son. I thought that day would never happen in the past. It is impossible to thank all those who helped make this happen. IRNA posted a video showing Namazi boarding a flight with a man dressed in traditional Omani attire. In the video, Namazi was struggling to climb the stairs.

The law firm Perseus Strategies, representing the family, said in a statement last month that Namazi, who was held by Iran for six years, was facing health problems and developed further medical issues over the course of his detention.

Today is a good day for the Namazi family, but the work is not over. Jared Genser, the managing director of Perseus Strategies and the family's lawyer, said that the United States and Iran need to act quickly to reach an agreement that will bring all of the American hostages home.

Namazi was lured by the government into Iran, under the false assumption that he would be able to see his son, Siamak, who had been detained there at the time. Namazi was taken into custody in February 2016, and was immediately taken into custody.

After visiting Iran in July 2015, Siamak Namazi was blocked from leaving Iran. He underwent months of interrogations before being arrested in October 2015.