The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said it is worried about one of its former officials, Baquer Namazi, an elderly man who has spent over a week in jail in Iran.
Namazi's son, Siamak, has also been in jail in Iran since last October. Namazi who was arrested last month is being held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
"Current and former UNICEF colleagues are deeply concerned about the health and well-being of Baquer Namazi," read a UNICEF statement quoted by Reuters. "We hope he will be reunited soon with his wife and loved ones."
Given the fact Namazi is 80-years-old and has a serious heart condition UNICEF is worried that even a brief time in jail could kill him.
Neither Namazi nor his son have yet been formally charged with any criminal offensives. However friends of the two have speculated that they may have been caught up in the middle of conflicting economic interests between hardliners and centrists in the country.
Both father and son hold dual American-Iranian nationality. Tehran has never properly recognized citizens with dual nationalities.
Namazi worked as a UNICEF representative and had served in Egypt, Kenya and Somalia among other places before retiring in 1996. Siamak had run a consulting business in Iran and has also worked for Crescent Petroleum in the United Arab Emirates.
