A general view of Tehran, the capital of Iran. file | Photo courtesy: Reuters
“An Iranian-American journalist who once worked for a US government-funded broadcaster has been detained by Iran for several months,” officials said on Sunday (November 3, 2024). Attack on the country.
Reza Valizadeh’s imprisonment accepted The Associated Press By the US State Department, This came as Iran observed the 45th anniversary of the US embassy takeover and hostage crisis on Sunday (November 3, 2024). It also followed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Threat to both Israel and America Long-range B-52 bombers arrived a day earlier in a “tremendous response” middle east In an attempt to stop Tehran.
worked for valizadeh Radio FardaAn outlet under Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty overseen by the US Agency for Global Media. In February 2024, he wrote on the social platform X that his family members were detained in an attempt to return him to Iran.
In August 2024, Valizadeh posted two messages apparently stating that he had returned to Iran despite Radio Farda being viewed as a hostile outlet by Iran’s theocracy.
“I arrived in Tehran on March 6, 2024. Before that, my conversation with the (Revolutionary Guard’s) intelligence department was incomplete,” the message read in part. “I finally came back to my country after 13 years without any security guarantees, even verbally.”
Valizadeh added the name of a person he claimed was from Iran’s intelligence ministry. AP It could not be verified whether the individual worked for the ministry.
Rumors have been circulating for several weeks that Valizadeh has been detained. The Human Rights Activist News Agency, which tracks cases in Iran, said he was detained upon arriving 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 in the Revolutionary Court of Iran, which regularly holds closed-door hearings in which defendants face secret evidence. It has to be done, the agency said. It said Valizadeh also faced arrest in 2007.
State Department told AP When asked about Valizadeh, he said he was “aware of reports that this dual US-Iranian citizen has been arrested in Iran”.
The State Department said, “We are working with our Swiss partners who serve as the security force for the United States in Iran to gather more information about this case.” “Iran routinely imprisons American citizens and citizens of other countries unjustly for political purposes. “This practice is cruel and contrary to international law.”
Iran has not acknowledged detaining Valizadeh. 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 that oversees the global media agency, first reported that the State Department was acknowledging Valizadeh’s detention in Iran.
Since the 1979 US embassy crisis, in which dozens of hostages were 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 detained for years in Iran were freed in exchange for five Iranians in US custody and $6 billion of Iranian assets seized by South Korea were released.
Valizadeh is the first American to be detained by Iran.
published – November 03, 2024 01:23 PM IST