; Whereas Nizar Zakka, a United States legal permanent resident alien and Lebanese national, who is also in poor health, was unlawfully detained around September 18, 2015, after speaking at a conference in Iran at the invitation of Iran, and was later falsely charged with being a spy and sentenced to 10 years at the Evin prison in Iran; Whereas, on April 13, 2017, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned the Tehran Prisons Organization and its former head, Sohrab Soleimani, and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted that [t]he sanctions against human rights abusers in Iran’s prisons come at a time when Iran continues to unjustly detain in its prisons various foreigners, including U.S. citizens Siamak Namazi and Baquer Namazi ; Whereas, on April 25, 2017, at the meeting of the Joint Commission overseeing implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Department of State reported that the United States delegation had raised with the Iranian delegation its serious concerns regarding the cases of U.S. citizens detained and missing in Iran, and called on Iran to immediately release these U.S. citizens so they can be reunited with their families ; and Whereas reports indicate that the Government of Iran has sought to condition the release of imprisoned nationals and dual-nationals on receipt of economic or political concessions, a practice banned by the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 17, 1979, and acceded to by the Government of Iran on November 20, 2006, and other international legal norms: Now, therefore, be it