The announcement by the lawyer, Jared Genser, raised speculation that the reprieve was a precursor to parole for Namazi, 81, a dual Iranian-U.S. citizen who was formerly a diplomat for UNICEF.
Namazi’s son, Siamak Namazi, 45, also a dual citizen, remains imprisoned.
Parole for the elder Namazi would be the first serious sign of movement on Iran’s part concerning the Americans known to be incarcerated there since a group was released when the Iranian nuclear agreement took effect two years ago.
The prisoners have long been a sore point in the estranged relations between the United States and Iran, which have worsened under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the nuclear accord, which lifted many economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for verifiable reductions in its nuclear activities.
The Namazis were convicted of collaborating with a hostile power — the United States — in a secretive trial in Iran in October 2016, and their convictions and 10-year sentences were upheld last November on appeal. The precise nature of the accusations has never been made clear.
The men have been confined in different wards of Evin Prison, a notorious penitentiary in Tehran, the capital, and the father has suffered worsening health problems — including low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat. He was transferred to a hospital four times in the past year, Genser said.
Genser said that under the terms of his temporary release, Namazi was allowed to rest at his home in Tehran, but that “he cannot leave Iran and is prohibited from speaking to the media.”
Namazi is supposed to be returned to prison Wednesday. But the lawyer said the father’s Iranian doctors had “strongly advised against his return to Evin Prison” because the conditions would “rapidly exacerbate his ailing health.”
There was no immediate comment from the Iranian government. U.N. and U.S. officials greeted the news with lukewarm approval.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
RICK GLADSTONE and GARDINER HARRIS © 2018 The New York Times