Concerns are growing over Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Iran

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

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

Valizadeh, a 49-year-old US-Iranian citizen and longtime critic of Iran’s security establishment, he was arrested on September 22, 2024, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His arrest, detailed in a petition filed Tuesday by his lawyer with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, comes amid Iran’s crackdown on protests across the country, and as Washington escalated.

The State Department officially designated Valizadeh as “wrongfully detained” in May 2025, and filed his case under the US government’s office. Valizadeh is one of at least four Iranian-Americans currently being held in Iran, including 70-year-old Kamran Hekmati and at least one other activist, a woman, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.

“In sending this request to the UN, and pulling all the 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 an unwavering message that the targeting of American citizens abroad will not be tolerated,” said Ryan Fayhee, Valizadeh’s advisor and partner at the law firm, Akin said in a statement.

“Every day that Reza remains behind bars, the Iranian regime has the courage to target Americans who have the courage to stand up for truth, justice and a better future for the Iranian people,” Fayhee said.

Valizadeh’s case continues to emerge in a tense situation inside Iran, where thousands of protesters it is believed to have been so you have been killedand many thousands more imprisoned, as the authorities have dispersed in recent protests against economic hardship and political repression. A near-total internet and communications blackout has been in place for more than two weeks.

American officials have criticized Tehran’s story handling of protesterswarning of continued economic pressure – and possible military strikes – while leaving open the possibility of negotiations. Iranian leaders have accused Washington of meddling, raising concerns among rights advocates that Americans held in Iran could be used as leverage as tensions rise.

President Trump said last week he would stop attacking Iran after the administration confirmed that the killing 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 heading west 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 monitoring Mr. Valizadeh’s case. President Trump has made it clear that he wants every American wrongfully imprisoned to return home,” a senior administration official told CBS News.

The State Department and a spokesman 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 go home”

Valizadeh became a US citizen in 2022 through his work for the US-funded broadcaster Radio Farda, the Persian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

According to messages relayed to his lawyer by his family, Valizadeh believes he has been given assurances by Iranian authorities that it is safe to return to Tehran, where most of his family lives. His brother said he now believes those assurances were part of a trap, possibly involving a former colleague with ties to the IRGC.

A Persian media report later cited sources who said Iran’s intelligence service hoped to pressure Valizadeh into cooperating with his former employer, Radio Farda, where he reported on corruption, protests and the influence of the IRGC. He refused.

Days later, IRGC agents detained him on a street in Tehran, confiscated his belongings, including his American passport, and took him to Evin prison, where he spent weeks in solitary confinement and was interrogated. 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 charge that Iranian authorities often use against journalists and activists.

In December 2024, after a petition to the UN described as a sham trial that lasted less than an hour, with a judge acting as prosecutor and judge, Valizadeh was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His request to the government was rejected in January 2025.

Since then, his family says Valizadeh’s health has been slowly deteriorating. He suffers from asthma, which has worsened due to overcrowded cells, poor air quality and exposure to smoke and debris – conditions that worsened after Israeli airstrikes on parts of Evin Prison in June 2025 during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. He has suffered from constant coughing and has been denied basic medicine, dental care and treatment for stomach problems.

After the June strikes, Valizadeh was among the prisoners who were taken to another facility without supplies or medicine, according to the UN file, before being returned to Evin prison, where his brother said he is now in a small cell with up to 18 other prisoners amid severe shortages of food, water, sanitation and health care.

Lawyers for some wrongfully imprisoned US citizens have appealed to the UN for help in the past. They combine Baquer Namaziwho was allowed to travel to Iran for life-saving surgery in the UAE in 2022, too Ryan Corbettwho was arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan and released in a prisoner exchange January 2025.

“The family is the core of Iranian culture. This is why many Iranian Americans return to Iran – to visit elderly parents and connect with the extended family. Unfortunately, this respect for the family is also what gives the state a continuous influx of two peoples who will enjoy themselves, “Neda Sharghi, the sister of the unjustly imprisoned. Emad Shargi and a lawyer for the American hostages and their families, he told CBS News. (Siblings use different spellings of their last names.)

“President Trump has seen the brutality of the Iranian regime. He also knows that we have innocent Americans, like Reza Valizadeh and Kamran Hekmati who were recently imprisoned, among others, who were caught in the trap of kidnapping. These Americans must return home and President Trump and his team have shown us that, at least if they need it and they are arrested, the Americans will do wrong. Freedom,” said Sharghi.

With help from Sharghi’s family and Valizadeh, Fayhee obtained from September pre-recorded voice messages from Valizadeh explaining the circumstances of his arrest. The last one came on December 20th.

Valizadeh and his family have been out of touch since Iran’s crackdown and nationwide internet blackout.