H. Res. 317 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

July 26, 2017. 

Whereas Iran has taken as hostages several United States 

citizens, including Siamak and Baquer Namazi and Xiyue 

Wang, as well as United States legal permanent resident, 

Nizar Zakka; 

Whereas Siamak Namazi was detained on October 15, 2015, 

falsely accused, and convicted on October 18, 2016, for 

‘‘collaborating with a hostile government’’ and has been 

held for extended periods in solitary confinement and 

under constant interrogation; 

Whereas former UNICEF official Baquer Namazi, the 80- 

year old father of Siamak Namazi, was detained on February 22, 2016, falsely accused, and sentenced to 10 

years in prison for the same crime as his son; 

Whereas former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon urged Iranian authorities to release Baquer 

Namazi, whose health status is deteriorating, to allow his 

family to care for him; 

Whereas UNICEF has issued four public statements on 

Baquer Namazi’s behalf; 

Whereas Xiyue Wang, a graduate student at Princeton University, was arrested in Iran on or about August 7, 2016, 

while studying Farsi and researching the late Qajar dy-
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nasty as background for his doctoral dissertation, detained by Iran in Evin prison for almost a year, falsely 

charged with espionage, and sentenced to 10 years in 

prison; 

Whereas Robert Levinson, a United States citizen and retired 

agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, traveled to 

Kish Island, Iran, and disappeared on March 9, 2007; 

Whereas the United States Government had ‘‘secured a commitment from the Iranians * * * to try and gather information about Mr. Levinson’s possible whereabouts’’ but 

has not received any information thus far; 

Whereas Nizar Zakka, a United States legal permanent resident alien and Lebanese national, who is also in a weakened physical state, was unlawfully detained around September 18, 2015, after presenting at a conference in Iran 

at Iran’s invitation, and was later falsely charged with 

being a spy and sentenced to 10 years at the Evin prison; 

Whereas, on April 13, 2017, the Department of the Treasury 

sanctioned the Tehran Prisons Organization and its 

former head, Sohrab Soleimani, and White House Press 

Secretary Sean Spicer noted ‘‘The sanctions against 

human rights abusers in Iran’s prisons come at a time 

when Iran continues to unjustly detain in its prisons various foreigners, including U.S. citizens Siamak Namazi 

and Baquer Namazi’’; 

Whereas, on April 25, 2017, at the meeting of the Joint 

Commission overseeing implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Department of State reported that the United States delegation had ‘‘raised with 

the Iranian delegation its serious concerns regarding the 

cases of U.S. citizens detained and missing in Iran, and 
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called on Iran to immediately release these U.S. citizens 

so they can be reunited with their families’’; 

Whereas elements of the Iranian regime are reportedly using 

nationals, dual-nationals, and permanent residents from 

the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, 

and other countries to exact political or financial concessions; and 

Whereas reports indicate that the Government of Iran is 

seeking additional payments or other concessions, including relief from economic sanctions, from the families of 

hostages and their governments as a condition of release, 

a practice banned by the 1979 International Convention 

Against the Taking of Hostages and other international 

legal norms: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) calls on the Government of the Islamic Republic 

of Iran to release unconditionally Siamak Namazi, 

Baquer Namazi, Xiyue Wang, Nizar Zakka, and any 

other United States citizen, legal permanent resident 

alien, or foreign national being unjustly detained in Iran; 

(2) urges the President to make the release of 

United States citizens and legal permanent resident 

aliens held hostage by the Government of Iran the highest of priorities; 

(3) requests that the United States and its allies 

whose nationals have been detained consider establishing 

a multinational task force to secure the release of the detainees; 
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(4) urges the Government of Iran to take meaningful steps towards fulfilling its repeated promises to assist 

in locating and returning Robert Levinson, including immediately providing all available information from all entities of the Government of Iran regarding the disappearance of Robert Levinson to the United States 

Government; 

(5) encourages the President to take meaningful action to secure the release of Siamak Namazi, Baquer 

Namazi, Xiyue Wang, Nizar Zakka, and any other 

United States citizen, legal permanent resident alien, or 

foreign national being unjustly detained in Iran if the 

Government of Iran does not release such United States 

citizens, legal permanent resident aliens, and foreign nationals; and 

(6) encourages the President to take meaningful action to secure the return of Robert Levinson if the Government of Iran does not locate and return him. 

Attest: 

Clerk.