According to a report by The New York Times, citing human rights groups, at least four dual Iranian American citizens have been detained in Iran—two were arrested after the 12-day war and the other two in 2024.
On Saturday, August 2, The New York Times quoted sources such as the nonprofit organization Hostage Aid Worldwide, which is in contact with the families and friends of the detainees, reporting that at least two American men and two American women have been arrested in Iran.
According to these sources, three of the individuals are still being held in prison, while one has been barred from leaving the country.
Reports indicate that all four were residents of the United States and had traveled to Iran to visit their families.
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The families of three of the Iranian-American citizens have requested that their names not be made public, fearing it could worsen their situation.
Two senior officials of Iran’s regime, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to The New York Times that Tehran recently detained two dual U.S. citizens—one a man from New York and the other a woman from California.
They stated that the arrests are part of a broader crackdown aimed at identifying what the regime calls a network of “agents linked to Israel and the United States.”
One of the detainees arrested after the 12-day war is a 70-year-old Jewish man from New York who works in the jewelry industry and has children and grandchildren.
According to human rights groups and his colleagues and friends, he has been interrogated over his travel to Israel.
Another detainee is a woman from the state of California who had been held at Evin Prison but was transferred to an undisclosed location following Israel’s attack on the prison.
Another Iranian-American woman was detained in Iran in December 2024 and placed under a travel ban.
She is currently outside of prison, but both her Iranian and American passports have been confiscated.
According to her American lawyer, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case, the woman works for a U.S. technology company and runs a charitable foundation for underprivileged children in Iran.
Reports indicate that after the 12-day war, Iran’s regime judiciary escalated her case and filed charges of “espionage” against her.
Reza Valizadeh, a former reporter for Radio Farda, is another Iranian-American citizen imprisoned in Iran. He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of “collaboration with a hostile government.”
For decades, Iran’s regime has pursued a policy of arresting foreign and dual nationals—a practice widely known as “hostage diplomacy.”
Under this strategy, hostages are used to secure the release of Iran’s frozen assets or to gain the freedom of Iranian nationals imprisoned in the West for involvement in “terrorist activities.”
According to The New York Times, these arrests are likely to further intensify the already tense political climate between Tehran and Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump has previously stated that the United States will not tolerate the unjust detention of its citizens by foreign governments and that securing their release is a top priority for his administration.
The U.S. Department of State has said it is “closely monitoring” reports of American citizens being detained in Iran.
Following the war, the U.S. State Department issued a new advisory, warning American citizens not to travel to Iran “under any circumstances.”
