TEHRAN – Iranian-American citizen Bagher Namazi has been released due to “humanitarian reasons,” Iran’s human rights chief announced on Sunday.

Kazem Gharibabadi, chief of Iran’s Human Rights Headquarters and deputy judiciary chief for international affairs, said it was for about four years that Namazi was living in his house in Tehran due to health conditions.

Gharibabadi added Namazi can leave Iran whenever he wishes.

“Following repeated requests for continuation of (medical) treatment outside the country and based on humanitarian reasons, a ban on him to leave the country was removed on Wednesday (September 28) and whenever he wants he can leave the country,” Gharibabadi stated.

The human rights chief also said Namazi’s son, Siamak, has been given a week-long leave to meet his parents.

Iran's Nournews reported that an unknown regional country had negotiated between Tehran and Washington for the "simultaneous release of inmates" shortly after news of Siamak's furlough surfaced.

On Saturday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was delighted that Bagher Namazi was permitted to depart and that his son had been released from jail.

He remarked that “the UN will continue to engage with the Iranian authorities on a range of important issues, including the regional situation, sustainable development and the promotion and protection of human rights.”

The U.S. State Department also expressed satisfaction with Iran's efforts and praised friends and partners that assisted the Namazis.

Bagher Namazi, 85, was found guilty in 2016 of "collaboration with a hostile government" and given a 10-year jail term. His case was concluded in 2020 after his release on medical reasons in 2018 and the Iranian authorities commuted his sentence to time served but still forbade him from leaving the country.

His 51-year-old son Siamak has been detained in Evin prison since 2015 and was found guilty in 2016 of the same offense as his father.