Exclusive: US says it is looking into case of American jailed in Iran

The Biden medication says it is looking into Iran's evident caller detention of an Iranian American dual nationalist who is the lone U.S. national publically reported to person been jailed by the Islamic republic since a uncommon U.S.-Iran captive swap successful September 2023.

Responding to a VOA enquiry past week the State Department said successful a connection that it was "aware of reports that a dual U.S.-Iranian national has been arrested successful Iran."

The reports notation to Reza Valizadeh, a erstwhile writer for VOA sister web Radio Farda who had near the Persian-language web successful 2022. He flew to Tehran successful February to sojourn his household aft surviving successful the West for 14 years, according to his past post connected the X level successful August.

Iran views Radio Farda and different Western-based Persian media arsenic hostile entities due to the fact that they gully attraction to nationalist dissent and protests against the nation's authoritarian Islamist rulers.

"We are moving with our Swiss partners who service arsenic the protecting powerfulness for the United States successful Iran to stitchery much accusation astir this case," a State Department spokesperson said.

"Iran routinely imprisons U.S. citizens and different countries' citizens unjustly for governmental purposes. This signifier is cruel and contrary to planetary law," the spokesperson added.

An informed root wrong Iran told VOA's Persian Service that Valizadeh was arrested successful Iran successful precocious September connected charges of collaborating with overseas-based Persian media. The root requested anonymity owed to Iran's repeated harassment of individuals who supply comments publically to Western media.

The Iran-based quality rights radical Human Rights Activists successful Iran (HRAI) and the U.S.-based media rights radical Committee to Protect Journalists reported successful mid-October that Valizadeh had been held successful Tehran's Evin situation without entree to a lawyer since his arrest. The reports cited 2 sources: 1 adjacent to Valizadeh's family, and 1 who antecedently worked with Valizadeh.

Iran's U.N. ngo successful New York acknowledged receiving a VOA petition for remark astir Valizadeh's lawsuit past week but provided nary response.

Skylar Thompson, HRAI's Washington-based lawman director, said successful a connection to VOA that the State Department "must utilize each disposable diplomatic channels to analyse Valizadeh's detention and guarantee his immediate, unhindered entree to ineligible counsel."

In his past X station successful August, Valizadeh wrote that helium had returned to Iran successful February aft having lone "half-completed" a dialog with the quality limb of Iran's apical subject force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He said helium decided to instrumentality voluntarily, adjacent without having received a anterior written oregon verbal committedness that the IRGC would not impede his visit.

In Valizadeh's erstwhile X post, published successful February upon accomplishment successful Iran, helium said Iranian quality agents had summoned and pressured his household members to transportation him to return.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has tried to transportation Iranians surviving overseas that they person thing to fearfulness by returning.

"We indispensable guarantee them that if they instrumentality to Iran, we volition not record a lawsuit against them. We volition not harass them, and we volition not forestall them from leaving," Pezeshkian said in an August interrogation with authorities quality bureau ISNA.

Jason Brodsky, argumentation manager of U.S. advocacy radical United Against Nuclear Iran, told VOA that Valizadeh's apprehension should beryllium a informing to Iranians with dual nationalities that Tehran's assurances cannot beryllium trusted.

"There person been cases implicit the years successful which Iranians overseas volition get authorization from 1 governmental entity successful Iran to enter, and past a competing bureau volition scoop up this idiosyncratic and instrumentality him hostage," Brodsky said.

Valizadeh was slated to spell connected proceedings earlier Revolutionary Court justice Abolghassem Salavati, according to sources cited by HRAI and Iranian freelance writer Nejat Bahrami, who archetypal reported Valizadeh's apprehension successful a societal media post connected October 13. Salavati has been sanctioned by the U.S. government for harshly punishing Iranian citizens and dual nationals for exercising their freedoms of look oregon assembly.

"It seems arsenic though Valizadeh is wrongfully detained," said Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian governmental idiosyncratic who herself was detained successful Iran from 2018 to 2020 connected what Western nations said were bogus information charges.

In an email to VOA, Moore-Gilbert wrote that Valizadeh's journalism "would surely marque him a idiosyncratic of involvement to the IRGC."

"The information that helium has been referred to the Revolutionary Court of Salavati is besides telling, arsenic this justice is favored by the IRGC for dealing with governmental cases including the wrongful detention of overseas and dual nationals," she wrote.

Granting a wrongful detention designation to a U.S. nationalist means U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens is authorized to enactment with a conjugation of authorities and backstage assemblage organizations to unafraid the detainee's freedom.

Designations are granted if a reappraisal by the caput of authorities concludes that the U.S. national's lawsuit meets criteria defined successful the Levinson Act of 2020.

Any of Valizadeh's household members residing overseas oregon ineligible representatives should "immediately apply" to the U.S. caput of authorities for a wrongful detention designation, Moore-Gilbert said. Valizadeh's caller enactment arsenic a writer should marque the process "relatively straightforward" successful opposition to different cases, she added.

The State Department spokesperson who sent the connection to VOA said the bureau "continuously monitors the circumstances surrounding the detentions of U.S. citizens overseas for indicators that the detentions whitethorn beryllium wrongful."

The Biden medication secured the merchandise of 5 Iranian Americans whom it deemed wrongfully detained successful Iran successful a September 2023 woody successful which 5 Iranians successful the U.S. besides won reprieves from detention and prosecution.

That woody is the lone U.S.-Iran captive speech of Biden's word truthful far. It besides progressive the U.S. allowing $6 cardinal successful Iranian funds frozen nether U.S. sanctions successful South Korean banks to beryllium transferred to Qatar for Iran to usage for humanitarian purchases. A U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson told U.S. media this period that the funds stay "immobilized" pursuing Iran's backing of the October 2023 Hamas panic onslaught connected Israel.

"Valizadeh's detention raises questions arsenic to whether the Iranians are holding him hostage for an speech involving the question of those assets successful Qatar oregon thing adjacent greater," Brodsky said.

"Every clip we bash a woody similar that, it emboldens the Iranians to instrumentality much hostages," helium added. "So we request a broad strategy, moving with our allies and partners, to employment communal hostage-taking penalties against Iran involving sanctions and diplomatic isolation."

This study was produced successful collaboration with VOA's Persian service.