When Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh returned to Iran in the spring of 2024, it was the first time he had set foot in his country in 15 years. The veteran journalist, who spent more than a decade in exile, went to Iran to see and care for his elderly parents.
Six months later, he was in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Valizadeh, 49, a dual US-Iranian citizen and longtime critic of Iran’s security establishment. he was arrested On September 22, 2024, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His arrest, detailed in a petition his lawyer submitted to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Tuesday, comes amid Iran’s crackdown on protests across the country and rising tensions with Washington.
The State Department formally designated Valizadeh as “wrongfully detained” in May 2025, placing his case under the US government’s Office of Hostage Affairs. Valizadeh is one of at least four Iranian-Americans in Iran, including 70-year-old Kamran Hekmati and at least one other septuagenarian, a woman, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.
“In submitting this petition to the UN, along with pulling out all the levers of power available to us in DC, we are committed to bringing attention to Reza’s case, not only to secure his release, but to send a clear message that US citizens will not be allowed to act abroad,” said Ryan Fayhee, a consultant to Valizadeh and an associate law firm of Akin Gump.
“Every day that Reza remains behind bars, the Iranian regime dares to attack Americans who dare to stand up for truth, justice and a better future for the Iranian people,” Fayhee said.
Courtesy of the Valizadeh family 
Valizadeh’s case continues to unfold against a volatile scene inside Iran, where thousands of protesters it is believed that they were dieand thousands more arrested, as the authorities have repressed about the recent demonstrations of economic hardship and political repression. The almost total blackout of the Internet and communications has been going on for more than two weeks.
US officials have condemned Tehran treatment of demonstratorswarning of more economic pressure—and possible military strikes—leaving open the possibility of talks. Iranian leaders have accused Washington of interference, raising concerns among rights advocates that Americans detained in Iran could be used as leverage as tensions rise.
President Trump said last week that he was holding off on striking Iran after assurances that the regime had “cancelled” the executions of hundreds of protesters, 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 to the Middle East, CBS News has confirmed, and is expected to arrive in the coming days.
“The Trump administration is closely following Mr. Valizadeh’s case. President Trump has been clear that he wants all wrongfully detained Americans to come home,” a senior administration official told CBS News.
A spokesman for the State Department and the United Nations Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“These Americans need to go home”
Valizadeh became a US citizen in 2022 for the US-funded broadcaster Radio Farda, the Persian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
According to messages from his family to his lawyer, Valizadeh believed Iranian authorities had assured him it was safe to return to Tehran, where most of his family lives. His brother has said he now believes the guarantees were part of a trap, possibly involving a former colleague with ties to the IRGC.
Later, Persian-language media reports cited sources who said Iranian intelligence hoped to cooperate with Valizadeh against his former employer, Radio Farda, citing corruption, protests and IRGC influence. He refused.
A few days later, IRGC agents arrested him on a Tehran street, confiscated his belongings, including his US passport, and took him to Evin Prison, where he spent several weeks in solitary confinement and rigorous 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 level against journalists and activists.
In December 2024, Valizadeh was sentenced to 10 years in prison after what the petition to the UN describes as a sham trial lasting less than an hour, in which the judge acted as both prosecutor and judge. The appeal to the regime was rejected in January 2025.
Since then, his family says Valizadeh’s health has steadily deteriorated. He has asthma, which has been worsened by congested cells, poor air quality and exposure to smoke and waste; Conditions escalated after Israeli airstrikes hit parts of Evin prison during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025. He has suffered frequent bouts of coughing and has been denied basic medication, dental care and treatment for gastrointestinal problems.
After the June strikes, Valizadeh was among prisoners returned to Evin prison under lock and key and transferred to another facility, where his brother says he now shares a small cell with 18 other prisoners amid severe shortages of food, water, sanitation and health care, according to the UN document.
Lawyers for other wrongfully detained American citizens have appealed to the UN for help in the recent past. They entered Baquer NamaziHe was allowed to leave Iran for life-saving surgery in the UAE 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. That’s why many Iranian-Americans travel to Iran to visit elderly parents and connect with extended family. Unfortunately, this respect for family also gives the regime a steady stream of dual nationals to feast on,” Neda Sharghi, sister of the arrested ex-criminal. Mom Shargi and an advocate for American hostages and their families, told CBS News. (Siblings use a slightly different spelling of the last name.)
“President Trump has witnessed the brutality of the Iranian regime. He also knows that we have innocent Americans, including the recently arrested Reza Valizadeh and Kamran Hekmati, caught in the regime’s hostage-taking tentacles. These Americans need to come home and President Trump and his team have shown us that they will at least take their hostages, American hostages, or wrongfully take their freedom,” Sharghi said.
With the help of Sharghi and Valizadeh’s family, Fayhee has received three pre-recorded voicemails since September describing the circumstances of Valizadeh’s arrest. The last one was on December 20.
Neither Valizadeh nor his family have been in contact since Iran’s crackdown and nationwide internet blackout began.