[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 245 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 245

 Calling on the Government of Iran to release unjustly detained United 
  States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2017

     Mr. Cruz (for himself and Mr. Leahy) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling on the Government of Iran to release unjustly detained United 
  States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran has taken as 
        hostages several United States citizens, including Siamak Namazi, Baquer 
        Namazi, and Xiyue Wang, as well as United States legal permanent 
        resident alien 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 subjected to prolonged interrogation;
Whereas former United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) official Baquer Namazi, 
        the 80-year-old father of Siamak Namazi, was detained on February 22, 
        2016, falsely charged and sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 
        identical crime as his son;
Whereas former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon urged 
        authorities in Iran to release Baquer Namazi, whose health is 
        deteriorating, so his family can care for him;
Whereas UNICEF has issued 4 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 dynasty 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, according to former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 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 poor health, was unlawfully detained around 
        September 18, 2015, after speaking at a conference in Iran at the 
        invitation of Iran, and was later falsely charged with being a spy and 
        sentenced to 10 years at the Evin prison in Iran;
Whereas, on April 13, 2017, the United States Department of the Treasury 
        sanctioned the Tehran Prisons Organization and its former head, Sohrab 
        Soleimani, and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted that 
        ``[t]he 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 called on Iran to immediately 
        release these U.S. citizens so they can be reunited with their 
        families''; and
Whereas reports indicate that the Government of Iran has sought to condition the 
        release of imprisoned nationals and dual-nationals on receipt of 
        economic or political concessions, a practice banned by the 
        International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, adopted by the 
        General Assembly of the United Nations on December 17, 1979, and acceded 
        to by the Government of Iran on November 20, 2006, and other 
        international legal norms: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) calls on the Government of Iran to release 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 and residents have been detained consider 
        establishing a multinational task force to work to secure the 
        release of the detainees;
            (4) urges the Government of Iran to take meaningful steps 
        toward 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) urges the President to take whatever steps are in the 
        national interest 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; and
            (6) urges the President to take whatever steps are in the 
        national interest to determine the whereabouts and secure the 
        return of Robert Levinson.
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