Concern grows over Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh, unjustly detained in Iran

When Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh returned to Iran in the spring of 2024, it was the first time he had set foot in his home country in 15 years. The veteran journalist, who had spent more than a decade in exile, traveled to Iran to see and care for his elderly parents.

Six months later, he was held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

Valizadeh, 49, a dual American-Iranian citizen and long-time critic of Iran’s security system, was arrested on September 22, 2024 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His detention, detailed in a petition filed Tuesday by his lawyer with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, comes amid Iran’s broad crackdown on protests across the country and as tensions with Washington simmer.

The State Department formally designated Valizadeh as “wrongfully detained” in May 2025, placing his case under the authority of the U.S. government’s office of hostage affairs. Valizadeh is one of at least four Iranian-Americans currently detained in Iran, including Kamran Hekmati, 70, and at least one other septuagenarian, a woman, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to News themezone.

“By filing this petition with the UN, in addition to using every lever of power available in DC, we are committed to bringing attention to Reza’s case, not only to secure his release, but to send an unequivocal message that attacking American citizens abroad will not be tolerated,” Ryan Fayhee, Valizadeh’s attorney and partner at the law firm Akin Gump, said in a statement.

“Every day that Reza remains behind bars, the Iranian regime is emboldened to attack Americans who dare to stand up for truth, justice and a better future for the Iranian people,” Fayhee said.

The Valizadeh case continues to unfold in a volatile context within Iran, where thousands of protesters they are believed to have been delicateand many thousands more arrested, as authorities have taken strong measures about recent demonstrations over economic difficulties and political repression. For more than two weeks there has been an almost total blackout of the Internet and communications.

US officials have condemned Tehran’s action. treatment of protesterswarning of increased economic pressure – and possible military attacks – while leaving open the possibility of talks. Iranian leaders have accused Washington of interfering, raising concerns among human rights advocates that Americans detained in Iran could be used as leverage as tensions escalate.

President Trump said last week that he postponed his attack on Iran after the regime assured him that the executions of hundreds of protesters had been “cancelled,” but in a recent interview he called for “new leadership” in Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has begun moving westward from the Indo-Pacific toward the Middle East, News themezone confirmed, and is expected to arrive in the coming days.

“The Trump administration is closely monitoring Mr. Valizadeh’s case. President Trump has been clear that he wants all Americans wrongfully detained to return home,” a senior administration official told News themezone.

The State Department and a spokesperson for the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“These Americans must come home”

Valizadeh became a U.S. citizen in 2022 thanks to his work for the U.S.-funded station Radio Farda, the Persian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

According to messages conveyed by his family to his lawyer, Valizadeh believed that Iranian authorities had given him assurances that it was safe to return to Tehran, where most of his family resides. His brother has said he now believes those assurances were part of a setup, possibly involving a former colleague who had ties to the IRGC.

Persian-language media reports later cited sources as saying that Iranian intelligence hoped to pressure Valizadeh into cooperating against his former employer, Radio Farda, by reporting on corruption, protests and the influence of the IRGC. He refused.

Days later, IRGC agents detained him on a Tehran street, confiscated his belongings, including his US passport, and took him to Evin prison, where he spent weeks in isolation and under intense interrogation. Iranian officials did not publicly acknowledge his arrest for nearly two months.

Valizadeh was eventually charged with “collaborating with a hostile government,” a vague national security offense that Iranian authorities routinely use against journalists and activists.

In December 2024, after what the UN petition describes as a sham trial that lasted less than an hour, and in which the judge acted as prosecutor and judge, Valizadeh was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His appeal to the regime was rejected in January 2025.

Since then, his family says Valizadeh’s health has steadily deteriorated. He suffers from asthma, which has been worsened by overcrowding in cells, poor air quality and exposure to smoke and debris, conditions that intensified after Israeli airstrikes hit parts of Evin prison in June 2025 during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. He has suffered frequent coughing fits and has been denied basic medications, dental care and treatment for gastrointestinal problems.

After the June strikes, Valizadeh was among prisoners who were shackled and moved to another facility without their belongings or medication, according to the U.N. document, before being returned to Evin prison, where his brother says he now shares a small cell with up to 18 other inmates amid severe shortages of food, water, sanitation and medical care.

Lawyers for other US citizens who were unjustly detained have asked the UN for help in the recent past. they included Baquer Namaziwho was allowed to leave Iran to undergo life-saving surgery in the United Arab Emirates in 2022, and Ryan Corbettwho was imprisoned by the Taliban in Afghanistan and released in a prisoner exchange in January 2025.

“Family is at the heart of Iranian culture. This is why so many Iranian-Americans travel back to Iran: to visit their elderly parents and connect with extended family. Unfortunately, this respect for family is also what gives the regime a constant influx of dual nationals to feast on,” Neda Sharghi, sister of a former wrongfully detained man. Shargi Mothers and advocate for American hostages and their families, he told News themezone. (The brothers use a slightly different spelling of their last name.)

“President Trump has witnessed the brutality of the Iranian regime. He also knows that we have innocent Americans, like the recently detained Reza Valizadeh and Kamran Hekmati, among others, caught in the regime’s hostage-taking tentacles. These Americans must return home and President Trump and his team have shown us that, at least when it comes to American hostages and unjust detainees, they will do whatever it takes to achieve their freedom,” Sharghi said.

With the help of Sharghi and Valizadeh’s family, Fayhee has received three pre-recorded voice messages from Valizadeh since September describing the circumstances of his detention. The last one arrived on December 20.

Neither Valizadeh nor his family have been in contact since the crackdown in Iran and the nationwide internet blackout began.