[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 132 (Thursday, August 3, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 245--CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN TO RELEASE 
 UNJUSTLY DETAINED UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT 
                     ALIENS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

                              S. Res. 245

       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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