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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, D.C. 20036
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
MAURICIO J. TAMARGO
T 202.558.9643
F 202.558.9649
Attorney at Law

Open Letter from Nizar Zakka, Former Iran Hostage, On the

mtamargo@pobletetamargo.com www.pobletetamargo.com

Fourth Anniversary of his Abduction

 
On this day four years ago, kidnappers decided to make September 18, 2015, a turning
point in my life. The only motivation was to make me a pawn in their campaign against
the emerging spirit of openness in their country, a process which was heading toward
the nuclear deal.
 
On this day, four years ago, I was forced to begin a journey of the harshest bitterness,
pain and sorrow.  My only fault was that, on that day, I was in the wrong place at the
wrong time, on my way back from Tehran to Beirut, concluding an official working visit
at the invitation of the Iranian Presidency.
 
This has been a crushing ordeal for
me and my family. You can’t
imagine the suffering this causes
until you’ve lived it. This ordeal
has changed me, permanently. I
can’t rest; I can’t sleep. My waking
hours are filled with pain. During
my fitful hours of sleep, these
dreams torture my soul. My
priorities have changed. The
wound is brutal and painful.  I had
Pictured: Nizar Zakka arrival in Lebanon before
not imagined that its impact could
returning to the United States.
be so horrific, a horror I live with
every day. Family is my one
comfort, especially my three brave sons who risked so much to bring about my release.
 
Today I spent the fourth anniversary of my detention alone in the presence of God, in
silent isolation. I wanted to be away from anyone, even from my family. I try to forgive,
to overcome injustice and pain.  I strive to gather the broken pieces of my life and
emerge from my distress, in order to regain the rest of my life that the kidnappers so
brutally tried to take from me. They unjustly and oppressively robbed from me 4 years,
which I feel was more like 4 decades. My life was turned upside down.  My family was
scattered, and my three children were denied parental care at the most critical and

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delicate times in their lives. I lost my job and everything I struggled for over the past 30
years. Suite 700 1020 16th Street, N.W., Suite 700
  Washington, D.C. 20036

It is no secret that my priorities have changed, and that my view of life TFand
JASON I. POBLETE
of people
202.558.9643
202.558.9649
has changed.  I want to spend the rest of my Attorney
life ensuring
at Law that no one suffers what I
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

jpoblete@pobletetamargo.com www.pobletetamargo.com
endured, an innocent oppressed in the face of my executioner. This is my message and
the message left to my conscience by all those who contributed to my victory, my
rescue and my liberation, including my family, the Lebanese people, the U.S. Congress,
the international community, and many many others. This is my message towards those
who are still suffering in Evin and in any other prison around the world, waiting for
their moment of freedom.
 
I will make sure that my great pain gets invested in the service of peace, and
I will strive every day to bring more attention to the issues of hostages and
forcibly detained people, so that the forces of evil will not find a single
shrine to declare a delusional victory over right and good.
 
For all this, I am in a hurry to heal, fully aware of the difficulty of the process of
liberation from Evin's pain and thick wounds.
 
I take the sad moment of the fourth anniversary of my detainment to ask the Secretary-
General of the United Nations to take all possible measures to secure the release of the
hostages in any detention facility, particularly in Iran.  I ask the Secretary-General to
explore every possible path in order to prevent innocent people rotting away in
dehumanizing prisons, and used as blackmail and bargaining in the game of nations.
 
I ask you, Mr. Secretary-General, to stop, once and for all, this great injustice that will
only bring about more injustice, and the hatred that will only produce further hatred.

Nizar Zakka
Former US Hostage of Iran

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