•HRES 317 IH 
Whereas former UNICEF official Baquer Namazi, the 80- 
year old father of Siamak Namazi and has a deterio-
rating health status, was detained on February 22, 2016, 
falsely accused and convicted to 10 years in prison for 
the identical crime as his son; 
Whereas former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki- 
moon urged Iranian authorities to release Baquer 
Namazi to allow his family to care for him; 
Whereas UNICEF has issued four public statements on 
Baquer Namazi’s behalf; 
Whereas Karan Vafadari, a United States citizen, and his 
wife, Afarin Niasari, an Iranian national and United 
States legal permanent resident alien, were detained in 
late July 2016 and has been held without charge or ac-
cess to counsel; 
Whereas a fourth United States citizen is detained in Iran 
though his family has wished for him not to be publicly 
identified; 
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 com-
mitment from the Iranians . . . to try and gather infor-
mation about Mr. Levinson’s possible whereabouts’’ but 
has not received any information thus far; 
Whereas Nizar Zakka, a United States legal permanent resi-
dent alien and Lebanese national, who is also in a weak-
ened physical state, was unlawfully detained on Sep-
tember 18, 2015, in Iran after attending a women’s Arab 
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) con-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:59 May 04, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR317.IH
HR317
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 317 IH 
ference, at Iran’s invitation, and was later falsely charged 
of being a spy sentenced to 10 years at the Evin prison; 
Whereas, on April 13, 2017, the U.S. 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 pris-
ons various foreigners, including US citizens Siamak 
Namazi and Baquer Namazi’’; 
Whereas, on April 25, 2017, at the meeting of the Joint 
Commission overseeing implementation of the Joint Com-
prehensive Plan of Action, the Department of State re-
ported 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 
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 and dual-nationals from the United States, 
Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, 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, includ-
ing 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— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:59 May 04, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR317.IH
HR317
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 317 IH 
(1) calls on the Government of the Islamic Re-
public of Iran to release unconditionally Siamak 
Namazi, Baquer Namazi, Karan Vafadari, Afarin 
Niasari, Nizar Zakka, and any other United States 
citizen, legal permanent resident alien, or foreign na-
tional being held 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 al-
lies whose nationals have been detained consider es-
tablishing a multinational task force to secure the 
release of the detainees; 
(4) urges the Government of Iran to take mean-
ingful steps towards fulfilling its repeated promises 
to assist in locating and returning Robert Levinson, 
including immediately providing all available infor-
mation 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 meaning-
ful action to secure the release of Siamak Namazi, 
Baquer Namazi, Karan Vafadari, Afarin Niasari, 
Nizar Zakka, and any other United States citizen, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:59 May 04, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR317.IH
HR317
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 317 IH 
legal permanent resident alien, or foreign national 
being held in Iran if the Government of Iran does 
not release such United States citizens, legal perma-
nent resident aliens, and foreign nationals; and 
(6) encourages the President to take meaning-
ful action to secure the return of Robert Levinson 
if the Government of Iran does not locate and return 
him. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:59 May 04, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR317.IH
HR317
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS