It’s too cruel to blame the parents. Any choice might have been the right one - or the wrong one. No one’s sure how to deal with the Iranian government - with Ahmadinejad in charge, who’s to bribe? I suspect this would have been easier under Rafsanjani... Prayers for the family - prayers for the young man.
“No one’s sure how to deal with the Iranian government”
This writer is correct and the parents are Iranian & should know better. Standard procedure for getting someone out without getting them killed is to publicize it immediately and keep it in the news as much as possible. The bigger deal you make & the louder you do it, the higher the success rate in getting them out under 2 yrs.
That goes for saving an Iranian citizen from the death penalty too.