According to reports, an Iranian-American journalist who worked for a US-funded station was jailed by Iran for several months.
State Department sources confirmed to the Associated Press that Reza Valizadeh is being held captive by the Iranian regime. Valizadeh works for Radio Farda, the Iranian affiliate of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts “factual, objective, and professional journalism” to its listeners in Farsi from the Czech Republic. Iran’s theocracy regards Radio Farda as a hostile outlet.
Valizadeh’s detention comes as Iran commemorates the 45th anniversary of the American Embassy seizure and hostage crisis on Sunday. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly threatened the United States and Israel with a “crushing response” after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dispatched more B-52 bombers and Navy warships to the Middle East amid escalating tensions.
Valizadeh claimed on X in February that members of his family had been detained in Iran and were pressuring him to return.
Valizadeh apparently wrote two messages in August indicating that he had returned to Iran with no guarantees of safety.
“I arrived in Tehran on March 6, 2024.” Prior to that, I had incomplete conversations with the (Revolutionary Guard’s) intelligence section,” one communication read, according to the AP. “Eventually, I came back to my country after 13 years without any security guarantee, even a verbal one.”
Valizadeh sent a cryptic letter with the name of an individual he said worked for Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. The AP could not confirm whether the individual worked for the ministry.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, which follows cases in Iran, said earlier this month that Valizadeh had been arrested and taken to Evin prison. According to the story, he was denied legal representation and the charges against him have yet to be disclosed.
When contacted about allegations of Valizadeh’s detention, the State Department told the Associated Press that it was “aware of reports that this dual US-Iranian citizen has been arrested in Iran.”
“We are working with our Swiss partners who serve as the protecting power for the United States in Iran to gather more information about this case,” according to the State Department. “Iran routinely imprisons American and other foreign people for political reasons. “This practice is cruel and violates international law.”
Iranian officials have not confirmed Valizadeh’s imprisonment.
Since the 1979 U.S. Embassy crisis, in which scores of hostages were released after 444 days in captivity, Iran has utilized captives with Western ties as bargaining chips in international discussions. In September 2023, five Americans who had been held in Iran for years were released in return for five Iranians in US custody and the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets from South Korea.
Valizadeh is the first known American detained by Iran in this time period.
Iran marked the anniversary of the embassy takeover on Sunday with thousands of demonstrators yelling “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” outside the old US Embassy. The Associated Press reported that several people burnt American and Israeli flags.
They also featured photographs of killed prominent figures from Iran-backed terrorist groups, such as Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The throng at the state-organized demonstrations chanted that they were prepared to defend the Palestinians.
Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, addressed in Tehran, reaffirming Khamenei’s promise to respond to the US military presence in the Middle East and escalating engagements between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The resistance front and Iran will equip itself with whatever necessary to confront and defeat the enemy,” Salami stated, according to the Associated Press.