DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is believed to have detained an Iranian-American journalist who formerly worked for a U.S. government-funded broadcaster for months, authorities said Sunday, raising the stakes as Tehran threatens retaliation. Israeli attack on the country.
Reza Valizadeh’s imprisonment, which the US State Department acknowledged to The Associated Press, came as Iran marked the 45th anniversary of the US embassy takeover and hostage crisis on Sunday. It also followed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatening both Israel and the United States the previous day with a “crushing response” as long-range B-52 bombers arrived in the Middle East in an attempt to deter Tehran.
Valizadeh worked for Radio Farda, an outlet affiliated with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is overseen by the US Agency for Global Media. In February, he wrote on the social media platform X that his family members had been arrested in an attempt to return him to Iran.
In August, Valizadeh apparently posted two messages indicating that he had returned to Iran even though the Iranian clerical regime viewed Radio Farda as a hostile outlet.
Part of the letter read: “I arrived in Tehran on March 6, 2024. Before that, I had incomplete negotiations with the Intelligence Directorate (Revolutionary Guard).” “In the end, I returned to my country after 13 years without any security guarantee, even if it was verbal.”
Valizadeh added the name of a man he claimed belonged to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence. The AP was unable to verify whether the person worked 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 upon arrival in the country earlier this year, but was later released.
The agency reported that he was arrested again and sent to Evin Prison, where he now faces a case before the Iranian Revolutionary Court, which routinely holds closed hearings in which defendants face secret evidence. She added that Valizadeh faced arrest in 2007 as well.
The State Department told the AP that it was “aware of reports of the arrest of this dual Iranian-American citizen in Iran” when asked about Valizadeh.
“We are working with our Swiss partners who serve as a US protection force in Iran to gather more information about this case,” the State Department said. “Iran routinely unjustly imprisons US citizens and citizens of other countries for political purposes. This practice is cruel and contrary to international law.”
Iran did not acknowledge Valizadeh’s detention. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Voice of America, another US government-funded media outlet supervised by the Global Media Agency, first reported that the State Department acknowledged Valizadeh’s detention 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 in negotiations with the world. In September 2023, five Americans who had been detained for years in Iran were released in exchange for five Iranians held by the United States, and in exchange for $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released by South Korea.
Valizadeh is the first American known to have been detained by Iran since then.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television on Sunday broadcast footage of various cities across the country to mark the anniversary of the embassy seizure.
General Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards, also spoke in Tehran, where he reiterated the pledge Khamenei made the previous day.
He said, “The Resistance Front and Iran will prepare everything necessary to confront and defeat the enemy,” referring to armed groups such as Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, which is supported by Tehran.
In Tehran, thousands chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” at the gates of the former US embassy. Some burned national flags and effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They also carried photos of murdered senior figures in armed groups allied with Iran, including Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Crowds at state-organized marches chanted that they were ready to defend the Palestinians.
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
