Siamak and Baquer Namazi are American-Iranians who have been detained in Iran since October 2015 and February 2016. They were convicted on manufactured charges of “collaboration with a hostile foreign government,” a reference to the United States, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Siamak is currently held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, while Baquer, a retired UNICEF official, had been detained there for two years but is now out on a temporary and highly restrictive medical furlough.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is British-Iranian and was arrested in April 2016 while visiting family. In September, she was convicted on undisclosed security charges and sentenced to five years in prison. A second fabricated case was also opened against her, effectively blocking her eligibility for parole. Amnesty International has designated her as a prisoner of conscience. Nazanin is also being held at Evin Prison.

Iran is not content to just illegally imprison our family members, but rather seems determined to break their spirits and put their lives at risk. Nazanin was forcibly brought to a psychiatric ward, kept in solitary confinement and chained to a bed. The prison has also restricted her contact with and access to family, including her 5-year-old daughter. Her prison psychiatrist found Nazanin is not fit to be in prison.

Siamak has been beaten, tasered and tortured. Baquer, who is 83 years old, was held for extended periods in solitary confinement and suffers from numerous life-threatening health problems, including heart conditions, epilepsy and severe blockages in the major arteries to his brain. While he has now been allowed a medical furlough, Iran still refuses to let him travel abroad for necessary medical treatment, and his condition is rapidly deteriorating.