Exclusive | Family of Long Island jeweler imprisoned in Iran urgently pleads with Trump for his release: Every day matters
WASHINGTON – The family of New Yorker Kamran Hekmati, who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than a year, is pleading with President Trump to make his release a condition of any peace deal.“Kamran is not only an American citizen; he is a devoted father, husband, brother, and cousin.Today, he is also a cancer patient.
He is battling bladder cancer without access to the medical care he urgently needs.Every day matters,” cousin Shohreh Nowfar, who acts as spokesperson for the Hekmati family, wrote in a letter obtained by The Post.“Mr.
President, we know you have the ability to make this happen,” the letter continued.“Thank you for your leadership and your commitment to bringing Americans home.”The letter was sent Tuesday night to President Trump, the State Department, the National Security Council and other senior government officials.The Kekmati family’s plea comes after Trump vowed in an interview over the weekend to bring all US hostages home if he is able. “We’ll talk about it and we’ll see.
No one really has an accurate list of who they are,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding: “If you give me their names, I’ll do my best to get them home.”Hekmati, a Jewish Iranian-American, is being held at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.The 61-year-old from Great Neck was visiting family in May 2025 when Iranian officials prevented him from leaving the country on the grounds that he had illegally visited Israel for his son’s bar mitzvah 13 years earlier.Adding to the family’s worries is the renewed bombing campaign waged against the Islamic Republic following the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz Monday evening by an Iranian drone.“Unfortunately, we’re now seeing military hostilities increase again, but we want to see the sequencing on this flip.
We want these Americans home.These Americans need to come home,” said Kieran Ramsey of the Global Reach advocacy group, which represents...