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US urges Iran to "immediately" release two detained Americans

WASHINGTON, April 27 (KUNA) -- The US called on Iran Thursday to "immediately" release two American citizens on "humanitarian grounds" who have been "unjustly" detained there.
State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement that according to reports, US citizen Siamak Namazi "has been unjustly detained in Iran since October 2015, and his 81-year old father, US citizen Baquer Namazi, has been unjustly detained in Iran since February 2016..
"The United States is deeply concerned about reports of their declining health and well-being in detention," he added.
He stressed that the US "urges Iran to immediately release Siamak and Baquer on humanitarian grounds." Toner noted that on the sidelines of a meeting earlier this week in Vienna of the Joint Commission overseeing implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, "the US delegation raised with the Iranian delegation its serious concerns regarding the cases of US citizens detained and missing in Iran, and called on Iran to immediately release these US citizens so they can be reunited with their families." Furthermore, Toner said "it has also been more than a decade since Robert Levinson disappeared from Iran's Kish Island." "Iran committed to cooperating with the United States in bringing Bob home and we call on Iran to fulfill this commitment. The United States remains unwavering in its efforts to return Bob to his family," he remarked. (end) si.ibi