•HRES 187 IH 
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 var-
ious 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 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, on July 21, 2017, the White House released a 
statement stating that ‘‘President Donald J. Trump and 
his Administration are redoubling efforts to bring home 
all Americans unjustly detained abroad, ‘and are’ pre-
pared to impose new and serious consequences on Iran 
unless all unjustly imprisoned American citizens are re-
leased and returned.’’; 
Whereas, on December 3, 2018, the families of Robert 
Levinson, Baquer and Siamak Namazi, and Nizar Zakka 
joined with the families of other foreign nationals held in 
Iran in sending an open letter to the international com-
munity calling for the release of their family members; 
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•HRES 187 IH 
Whereas according to Jason Rezaian, a former Washington 
Post Tehran correspondent who was unjustly imprisoned 
in Iran for 544 days, hostage-taking ‘‘in recent years be-
came a key tool of domestic influence for the Revolu-
tionary Guard’’; and 
Whereas Iranian media has reportedly quoted officials who 
have indicated 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 prac-
tice 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 Re-
public 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 de-
tained 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; 
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•HRES 187 IH 
(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, 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 meaning-
ful action to secure the return of Robert Levinson 
if the Government of Iran does not locate and return 
him. 
Æ 
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