On February 22, 2016, Iranian authorities arrested Baquer Namazi, Siamak's father, when he arrived in the country to visit his son.
[7] In mid September 2023, Reuters reported that the United States agreed to allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to receive $6 billion of Iranian oil revenue frozen in South Korea[8] since 2018 in exchange for the release of Namazi and 4 others.
[9] Namazi was ultimately freed from imprisonment in Iran on September 18, 2023, as part of an Iran–United States prisoner release mediated by Qatar.
[10] In September 2024, Namazi spoke about his detainment and subsequent imprisonment in Evin Prison, stating he endured around eight months of solitary confinement overall, as well as blindfolding, weeks of beatings, and "humiliation" he was not comfortable describing in detail.
[11] He stated that "no one is as angry, no one is as disgusted at the fact that the Islamic Republic, this horrible regime, profited from blighting my life, than me and the other hostages and our families," but that he recognized that "unfortunately, we have to make distasteful deals to get out our people.