Iranian-American held in Iran as situation escalates following Israeli attack on country, US says

An Iranian-American journalist who once worked for a US-backed broadcaster is believed to have been detained by Iran for months, authorities said on Sunday, further raising the toll as Tehran threatened retaliation. Israel’s invasion of the country.

The arrest of Reza Valizadeh, confirmed to The Associated Press by the US State Department, came as Iran commemorated the 45th anniversary of the seizure of the US Embassy and hostage crisis on Sunday. It also followed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatening both Israel and the US the day before “painful answer” as long-range B-52 bombers hit the Middle East in an attempt to deter Tehran.

Valizadeh worked for Radio Farda, a subsidiary of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is managed by the US Agency for Global Media. In February, he wrote on social media X that his family members were detained for trying to see him return to Iran.

In August, Valizadeh apparently sent two messages suggesting that he had returned to Iran even though Radio Farda is viewed by Iran’s democratic regime as a hate source.

“I arrived in Tehran on March 6, 2024. Before that, I had unfinished discussions with the (Revolutionary Guard’s) intelligence department,” the message read in part. “I finally returned to my country after 13 years without any assurance of safety, not even a verbal one.”

Valizadeh added the name of a man he said belonged to Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. AP could not confirm that the person works for the ministry.

Rumors have been circulating for weeks that Valizadeh has been arrested. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, which monitors cases in Iran, said he was arrested when he arrived in the country earlier this year, but was later released.

He was re-arrested and sent to Evin prison, where he is now facing trial in Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which usually hears closed cases where defendants face secret evidence, the agency reported. Valizadeh was also arrested in 2007, he said.

The State Department told the AP it was “aware of reports that this US-Iranian citizen has been detained in Iran” when asked about Valizadeh.

“We are working with our Swiss colleagues who act as the United States’ protection force in Iran to gather more information about this case,” the State Department said. “Iran routinely arrests US citizens and foreign nationals arbitrarily for political purposes. This practice is cruel and against international law.”

Iran has refused to arrest Valizadeh. Iran’s delegation to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Voice of America, another US government-sponsored news outlet overseen by the Agency for Global Media, first reported that the State Department welcomed Valizadeh’s arrest in Iran.

Since the 1979 US Embassy crisis, which saw dozens of hostages released after 444 days in captivity, Iran has used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips with the world. In September 2023, Five Americans imprisoned for years in Iran were released in exchange for five Iranians in US custody and $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released by South Korea.

Valizadeh is the first known American to be detained by Iran since then.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television broadcast pictures on Sunday in different cities across the country celebrating the anniversary of the seizure of the embassy.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Guards, also spoke in Tehran, where he repeated the oath taken the day before by Khamenei.

“The opposition and Iran will arm themselves with whatever is necessary to face and defeat the enemy,” he said, referring to opposition groups such as Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah supported by Tehran.

In Tehran, thousands at the gate of the former US Embassy chanted “Death to America” ​​and “Death to Israel.” Others burned national flags and portraits of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

They also carried pictures of slain senior figures from Iran-aligned groups including Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Crowds of people at the rally organized by the government shouted that they are ready to protect the Palestinians.

Chaos is intensifying in the Middle East after war broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 250 others. according to health authorities in Gaza, who did not say how many were soldiers but said more than half were women and children.

Hezbollah, also allied with Iran, began firing rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon into Israel in cooperation with Hamas soon after. The year-long war reached full scale on Oct. 1, when Israeli forces attacked southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.

Iran, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies, launched its attack, launching 180 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. Israel retaliated, targeting Iranian military facilities in an Oct. 25.