http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/world/middleeast/iran-siamak-namazi-video.html 2016-10-17 23:40:53 Video Shows Siamak Namazi, American Businessman Held by Iran The video showed the first images of Mr. Namazi — who is also a citizen of Iran — since his arrest a year ago, hinting that formal charges may soon be lodged. === An Iranian-American businessman The video — a montage of anti-American-themed images that runs one minute, 12-seconds, and is set to dramatic music — showed the businessman, Siamak Namazi, his hands raised, along with his United States passport and United Arab Emirates resident identification. The video also showed a seized American surveillance drone; images of Jason Rezaian, the reporter for The Washington Post who was accused of spying for the United States; and clips of American sailors shown kneeling in surrender positions when The end of the video showed a photograph of Representative Ed Royce, the California Republican who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr. Royce was quoted as saying that Mr. Royce’s representatives in Washington said he had no comment on the video. It was not clear when the video, released by the Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, had been made. But the timing roughly coincided with the first anniversary of Mr. Namazi’s arrest in Tehran, suggesting that formal charges were looming. An international relations expert and business consultant with dual citizenship of the United States and Iran, Mr. Namazi is well connected in both countries and is an outspoken proponent of improving relations. He had been a strategic planning executive at Crescent Petroleum, a privately owned Middle East energy concern, when he was arrested in Iran. Mr. Namazi’s arrest appeared to be part of a broader crackdown by Iran’s hard-line security forces against Iranians with Western ties in the aftermath of the nuclear deal that President Hassan Rouhani reached last year with foreign powers, most notably the United States. The deal restricted Iran’s nuclear work in exchange for relaxed economic sanctions on the country. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah The video showing Mr. Namazi came a few days after Muhammad Ali’s widow, Lonnie, Mr. Ali, a highly respected figure among the world’s Muslims, including those in Iran, had written to Mr. Khamenei asking him to release Mr. Rezaian. In Iran, hard-line opponents of improving relations with the United States have focused on Iranian-Americans as a particular source of suspicion. The Iranian government does not recognize dual nationalities and treats foreigners of Iranian descent as Iranian citizens. Mr. Rezaian, along with three other Americans of Iranian descent held in Iran, was freed in January in a prisoner exchange when the nuclear agreement took effect. Obama administration officials Administration officials said the money was part of a separately negotiated settlement of an old dispute over undelivered military equipment that Iran had purchased before the 1979 revolution, which led to a break in relations. But the timing of the payment has spurred speculation that the Iranians would now use Mr. Namazi and his father as bargaining leverage to win more disputed monetary claims against the United States.