US says Iranian-American is being held in Iran because of high tensions following Israel’s attack on the country

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP). An Iranian-American journalist who once worked for a US government-funded broadcaster is believed to have been held by Iran for several months, authorities said Sunday, further raising the stakes as Tehran threatens to retaliate against Israel’s attack on the country.

The arrest of Reza Valizadeh, confirmed to The Associated Press by the US State Department, came as Iran marked the 45th anniversary of the US embassy seizure and hostage crisis on Sunday. It also came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had earlier threatened Israel and the US with a “devastating response” when B-52 long-range bombers reached the Middle East in an attempt to contain Tehran.

Valizadeh worked for Radio Farda, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty station controlled by the US Global Media Agency. In February, he wrote on the social media platform X that his family members had been detained in an attempt to secure his return to Iran.

In August, Valizadeh apparently published two messages saying he had returned to Iran, despite the Iranian theocracy’s perception of Farda Radio as a hostile source.

“I arrived in Tehran on March 6, 2024. Before that, I had unfinished negotiations with the intelligence agency (of the Revolutionary Guards),” the message reads. “Eventually I returned to my country after 13 years without any guarantees of safety, not even verbal ones.”

Valizadeh added the name of a person he said belonged to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. The AP was unable to verify whether the person worked for the ministry.

Rumors about Valizade’s detention have been circulating for weeks. The Human Rights Watch, which tracks cases in Iran, said he was detained after arriving in the country earlier this year but later released.

He was then re-arrested and sent to Evin prison, where he now faces a case in Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which regularly holds closed hearings in which defendants face secret evidence, the agency said. It is noted that Valizadeh was also arrested in 2007.

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

“We are working with our Swiss partners, who are the protectorate of the United States in Iran, to gather more information about this case,” the State Department said. “Iran regularly imprisons US citizens and citizens of other countries unjustly for political purposes. This practice is cruel and contrary to international law.”

Iran has not recognized Valizadeh’s detention. Iran’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

VOA, another US government-funded media outlet controlled by the Global Media Agency, first reported that the State Department acknowledged Valizadeh’s detention in Iran.

Since the 1979 US embassy crisis, in which dozens of hostages were freed 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 held in Iran for years 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 American detained by Iran since then.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television showed footage of various cities across the country marking the anniversary of the embassy seizure on Sunday.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, also spoke in Tehran, where he repeated a promise made the day before to Khamenei.

“The resistance front and Iran will arm themselves with everything they need to confront and defeat the enemy,” he said, referring to militant groups such as Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which Tehran supports.