Amir Hekmati, Former US Marine Held In Iran, Starts Hunger Strike; Family Releases Open Letter To Obama

Washington Informer December 17, 2014

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This undated file photo released by his family via FreeAmir.org shows Amir Hekmati. Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine being held in Iran over the past two years on accusations of spying for the CIA. The semiofficial ISNA news agency reported Saturday, April 12, 2014 that an appeals court has overturned a death sentence of an American man convicted of working for the CIA, instead sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Iran charged Hekmati with receiving special training and serving at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged mission. Hekmati's father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan, has said his son is not a CIA spy. (AP Photo/Hekmati family via FreeAmir.org, File)

(International Business Times) – Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, who is imprisoned in Iran for more than three years for allegedly spying for the CIA, has begun a hunger strike, his family said Tuesday, without mentioning when he started the strike, according to media reports. The family also released an open letter he had written to President Barack Obama asking “not to forget me” as the two countries continue talks over Iran’s proposed nuclear program.

In the letter, the 31-year-old from Flint, Michigan, reportedly said that he is “deeply concerned” that his detention has become somehow linked to the “delicate” nature of nuclear negotiations with Iran. Negotiations between Iran and the group of six big powers, including the U.S., began Tuesday in Geneva after being extended twice. The negotiations are now reportedly facing a July deadline.

“It is my hope that after reading this letter you, or anyone who may see this, will help end the nightmare I have been living,” the letter reads, according to The Associated Press.