An Iranian-American journalist who worked for a U.S. government-funded television station has reportedly been detained by Iran for months now, authorities said Sunday, further raising the stakes as Tehran threatens to retaliate. an Israeli attack on the country.
The imprisonment of Reza Valizadeh, acknowledged by the Associated Press by the U.S. State Department, comes as Iran marks the 45th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover and hostage crisis on Sunday. It also followed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s threats the day before against both Israel and the United States. “an overwhelming response” as long-range B-52 bombers reached the Middle East in an attempt to deter Tehran.
Valizadeh had worked for Radio Farda, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty channel overseen by the US Agency for Global Media. In February, he wrote on the social platform X that members of his family had been arrested in an attempt to see him return to Iran.
In August, Valizadeh apparently posted two messages suggesting he had returned to Iran, although Radio Farda is considered a hostile channel by Iran’s theocracy.
“I arrived in Tehran on March 6, 2024. Before that, I had unfinished negotiations with the (Revolutionary Guard) intelligence services,” the message read in part. “Finally, I returned to my country after 13 years without any guarantee of security, even verbal.”
Vahid Salemi/AP
Valizadeh added the name of a man he said was from Iran’s intelligence ministry. The AP could not verify whether the person worked for the department.
Rumors have been circulating for weeks that Valizadeh had been arrested. The Human Rights Activists news agency, which tracks cases in Iran, said he was arrested upon arrival in the country earlier this year but later released.
He was then arrested again and sent to Evin Prison, where he now faces a case before Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which regularly holds closed-door hearings in which defendants are confronted with secret evidence, the agency reported. Valizadeh was also arrested in 2007, according to the press release.
The State Department told the AP it was “aware of reports that this dual U.S.-Iranian citizen had been arrested in Iran” when asked about Valizadeh.
“We are working with our Swiss partners who serve as the United States’ protective power in Iran to gather more information on this matter,” the State Department said. “Iran routinely imprisons citizens of the United States and other countries unjustly for political purposes. This practice is cruel and contrary to international law.”
Iran has not recognized Valizadeh’s detention. The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Voice of America, another US government-funded media outlet overseen by the Agency for Global Media, first reported that the State Department acknowledged Valizadeh’s detention in Iran.
Since the 1979 US embassy crisis, which saw dozens of hostages freed after 444 days in captivity, Iran has used prisoners with ties to the West as bargaining chips in negotiations with the world. In September 2023, five Americans detained for years in Iran were released in exchange for five Iranians detained by the United States and for $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released by South Korea.
Valizadeh has since become the first American detained by Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television on Sunday broadcast images from different cities across the country marking the anniversary of the embassy takeover.
General Hossein Salami, head of the Guard, also spoke in Tehran, where he reiterated a commitment made the day before by Khamenei.
“The resistance front and Iran will equip themselves with everything necessary to confront and defeat the enemy,” he said, referring to militant groups like Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah backed by Tehran.
In Tehran, thousands of people at the entrance to the former American embassy chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”. Some burned country flags and effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They also released images of slain figures from Iran-allied militant groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Crowds at state-organized rallies chanted that they were ready to defend the Palestinians.
Tensions rose in the Middle East after a war broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and removing 250 more. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not specify how many were fighters but say more than half were women and children.
Hezbollah, which is also an ally of Iran, immediately afterward began firing rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Year-long cross-border fighting escalated into a full-fledged war on October 1, when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.
Iran, one of Israel’s bitter enemies, launched its own attack, dropping around 180 ballistic missiles on Israel on October 1. Israel responded by targeting Iranian military installations in airstrikes on October 25.
