Iran Hostage Diplomacy

Valizadeh’s lawyers have petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, arguing Iran is unlawfully holding Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh — a dual U.S.–Iranian journalist who became a U.S. citizen in 2022 while working for Radio Farda — after his arrest by the IRGC on Sept. 22, 2024; he is being held in solitary at Evin Prison and was formally designated “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. State Department in May 2025. Valizadeh, a longtime critic of the Iranian regime who returned to Iran in spring 2024 to care for aging parents amid what his family says were misleading assurances that may have involved a former colleague with IRGC ties, was detained amid a nationwide protest crackdown, near‑total internet blackout and heightened U.S.–Iran tensions that have raised fears detainees could be used as leverage.