Long Island man has been detained in Iran since July because he traveled to Israel 13 years ago
GREAT NECK, Long Island (WABC) -- A 70-year-old man from Long Island has been detained in Iran for months because he traveled to Israel years ago.
Back in July, Kamran Hekmati of Great Neck traveled to Iran to visit a sick relative, and he is now being held prisoner there.
Previously, Hekmati had traveled to Israel for his son's bar mitzvah 13 years ago.
Since that trip, Iran has passed a law banning citizens from visiting Israel.
Federal lawmakers are raising the alarm and now working to bring Hekmati home.
"Well, it's of course very upsetting that a constituent of mine, a U.S. citizen, would travel to Iran and get arrested under some crazy law, that is now putting his life in danger," Rep. Tom Suozzi said.
Suozzi has sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio requesting immediate diplomatic engagement to secure Hekmati's release, as well as a classified update to Congress and a broader threat assessment of Iran's actions against Americans abroad.
Some in the Persian Jewish community are calling this case a terrifying reminder.
"I feel like he shouldn't have gone there in the first place. Being Jewish, you shouldn't travel there. He took the risk. It's so sad, I wish we could help him," Great Neck resident Sahar Nasrolai said.
Hekmati had also made several other trips to Iran with his family in the years since that bar mitzvah, and never had a problem until the most recent one, when tensions between Iran and the U.S. and Iran and Israel had boiled over.
"Anti-semitism is very real. And this hate for Israel, especially from Iran, is a very real thing," Suozzi said.
Those closest to Hekmati are highly concerned because Hekmati now suffers from bladder cancer.
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