DUBAI (Reuters) -Oman on Tuesday thanked Iran for handing over U.S. citizen Baquer Namazi, the Iranian foreign ministry said on its website, but it was unclear whether the Iranian American had left the Islamic Republic or when he might do so.
Namazi, a former U.N. official, holds both U.S. and Iranian citizenship.
“In a phone call, Oman’s foreign minister expressed his gratitude and appreciation for Tehran’s trust in the Omani authorities and the humanitarian action of Iran in handing over Baquer Namazi to Muscat,” the Iranian foreign ministry said.
Namazi, 85, was convicted in Iran of “collaboration with a hostile government” in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Iranian authorities released him on medical grounds in 2018 and closed his case in 2020, commuting his sentence to time served but effectively barring him from leaving the country.
On Saturday, the United Nations said that Namazi had been allowed to leave Iran for medical treatment.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammad; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Porter and Cynthia Osterman)
