Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American citizen imprisoned in Tehran ended a seven-day hunger strike on Monday. He says he lost 10 pounds and his resolve to fight for the release of U.S. prisoners is strong. He has been detained since October 2015. The hunger strike was planned to coincide with the seventh anniversary of Washington’s decision to exclude him from a prisoner release that saw five other American freed. That happened after the papers were signed over the denuclearization deal with Iran during the Obama-Biden administration.

Namazi called on Biden to consider the plight of American prisoners in Iran for a minute each day — one “for each of the seven years of freedom” he has lost since the prisoner swap, according to a statement released by his lawyer.

“I went on hunger strike because I’ve learned the hard way that U.S. presidents tend to rely more on their political thermometer than their moral compass when deciding whether or not to enter a prisoner deal with Iran,” he said.

“I denied myself food for an entire week so that maybe President Biden will recognize just how desperate the situation of the U.S. hostages here has become.”

Besides losing 10 pounds, his blood pressure spiked above normal levels during the hunger strike. He struggled to stay warm. I don’t think he should count too heavily on Biden getting him released any time soon. Biden doesn’t seem to have made it a priority to bring home Americans from detention in foreign countries.

Namazi was blocked from leaving Iran after a visit in 2015. He was sentenced to 10 years for collaborating with a foreign government. He denies those charges and U.S. officials call them groundless.

Trump discarded the Iran nuclear deal when he came into office and Biden restored it when he came into office. Biden, however, said the deal can’t go forward without the release of imprisoned Americans. Namazi is still detained in Iran. Biden acknowledged the deal is dead, complicated by U.S. and Western outcry over the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests and human rights violations.

When Namazi began his hunger strike, a National Security Council spokesperson said that the U.S. government remained “committed to securing the freedom of Siamak Namazi, and we are working tirelessly to bring him home along with all U.S. citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.”

“Iran’s wrongful detention of U.S. citizens for use as political leverage is outrageous,” the statement from the NSC spokesperson said. “Our priority is bringing all our wrongfully detained citizens home safely and as soon as possible and resolving the cases of missing and abducted U.S. citizens.”

Namazi remains incarcerated in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, along with Americans Shargi and Tahbaz. Mr. Shargi’s family confirmed to CBS News in mid-January that the three Americans were located in the same prison ward since a fire broke out at the prison last year as the country was engulfed by the nationwide protests which continue to this day.

U.S. permanent resident Shahab Dalili is also being detained in Iran.

Generally speaking, Iran refuses to acknowledge dual citizenship. Earlier this month, Iran announced the execution of British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari. He was convicted of spying for the United Kingdom. He denied the charge.

Namazi’s father was a UN offical at the time of his detention. His father was detained shortly after a U.S. swap during an attempt to visit his son. Father and son were left behind in two more prisoner exchanges that were carried out during the Trump administration. Iranian authorities allowed the father, now 86, to leave Iran last October for medical treatment in the UAE.

Good luck to the younger Namazi. It’s not looking very good for him right now. The Biden administration hasn’t proven to be very strong in getting American citizens released from detention in foreign countries.