American imprisoned in Iran speaks out

Today's show begins with an extremely difficult conversation under highly unusual circumstances. Siamak Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman who has been imprisoned in Iran for over seven years. While several American detained in Iran have been released as part of prisoner swaps with the US -- Namazi's own father was released on medical grounds last October -- Siamak continues to languish in prison, even going on a week-long hunger strike back in January and writing a letter to President Biden. Now he tells Christiane he feels so alone, abandoned, and out of options that he's decided to come to us, hoping to beseech Biden to help him and other imprisoned Iranian Americans.

Next, to dig a little deeper into the plight of Namazi and his fellow American detainees, Christiane speaks with Johns Hopkins professor Vali Nasr, himself an Iranian American and formerly a senior adviser at the US State Department.

Also on today's show: Michael R. Gordon, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices