WASHINGTON: The White House on Wednesday warned Iran that it will be heldresponsible for the health of 81-year-old American citizen Baquer Namazi,who was recently sent back to prison after medical treatment.

Namazi and his son Siamak were sentenced to 10 years in prison for”espionage and collaboration with the American government” in October — acharge denied by the family and dismissed by US authorities.

The elder Namazi “has been hospitalized four times in the last year andcontinues to suffer from life-threatening heart problems,” a statement fromthe White House read.

“He remains in urgent need of sustained medical care, and the United Statesgovernment holds Iran fully accountable for his well-being.”

“The Trump administration again calls for the immediate and unconditionalrelease of all unjustly detained and missing United States citizens inIran, including Baquer Namazi, his son Siamak Namazi, Xiyue Wang, andRobert Levinson.”

Namazi was rushed to a hospital on January 15 — the fourth time in the lastyear — after a “severe” drop in his blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat.

On Sunday, Iranian authorities granted Namazi, a dual US-Iranian citizen,leave from prison on humanitarian grounds. In September, he underwentemergency heart surgery to install a pacemaker.

His lawyer, Jared Genser, said then that under the terms of the leave, hecould not leave Iran. His son, a business consultant and also a dualnational, is also still in jail.

Wang, a Chinese-American researcher from Princeton University, has alsobeen given a 10-year sentence for espionage.

Former FBI agent and CIA contractor Levinson went missing in March 2007after apparently travelling to an Iranian coastal island.

Washington and Tehran have had no diplomatic relations since April 1980,and tensions have sharpened under Trump after a brief warming under hispredecessor, Barack Obama. – AFP