Fourth American Taken Hostage By Iranian Regime

(New York, N.Y.) – Just days prior to the U.S. presidential inauguration ceremonies, a Tehran court sentenced Iranian-American businessman Emad Sharghi without trial to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage and gathering military information. Sharghi’s arrest and imprisonment makes him the fourth U.S. citizen held hostage presently by the regime, joining Siamak and Baquer Namazi, and Morad Tahbaz. The sentence against Sharghi follows an earlier seven-month term in 2018 at Iran’s notorious Evin prison, where he faced abusive treatment and was subject to repeated interrogations by Iranian authorities.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s resource, American and Western Hostages, provides an in-depth overview into the profiles of the American and European citizens currently being held in Iran, as well as in-depth descriptions of the experiences of former hostages who have been released from captivity. 

Iran takes foreign citizens, and in particular dual nationals, as hostages to extract geopolitical concessions from other countries. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, so by targeting dual nationals, the regime demonstrates to the Iranian expatriate community that they are not beyond Tehran’s grasp. The regime also seeks to send a message to Iranians to refrain from internal dissent and punish undesirable behavior. 

To read UANI’s resource, American and Western Hostages, please click here. 

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