Trump Vows to Work for Release of Jewish American Held in Iran

At least two American citizens are currently being held in detention in Iran. According to a report today (Tuesday) on ynet, Washington has activated a series of major legal and diplomatic tools that come into effect when American citizens are officially classified by a hostile country as "wrongfully detained."

In an interview aired this week on NBC, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked whether he intended to make the release of the imprisoned American citizens a condition of any future agreement with Iran. Trump responded: "No one really has an exact list of who they are, what their condition is, or whether they are being held. If you give me their names, I will do my best to bring them home."

One of the detainees is 71-year-old Jewish American Kamran Hekmati, a well-known businessman in Manhattan's Diamond District. Hekmati, who holds dual citizenship, immigrated from Iran to the United States at age 13. About 14 years ago, he visited Israel for his son's bar mitzvah. About a year ago, he traveled for a short family visit to his country of birth. Because Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, he used only his Iranian passport. Upon landing at the airport, he was arrested and transferred to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. He was later sentenced to prison on the claim that he had violated Iranian law prohibiting the country's citizens from visiting Israel. 

The second detainee is Reza Valizadeh, a 50-year-old journalist who also holds dual citizenship. Valizadeh left Iran in 2009, and in March 2024 returned to his country to visit his elderly parents, after receiving an explicit promise from a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards that he would not be harmed. That promise was not kept: Valizadeh was arrested, held in prolonged solitary confinement, and sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of "cooperation with a hostile government." In May 2025, he was officially designated by the U.S. secretary of state as wrongfully detained.

Concern in the United States is growing over the condition of both men, especially after Hekmati's family revealed in an interview with CNN that he has cancer. Last April, attorneys for both families told the network that they had received assurances from the American negotiating team that the matter was known and was being handled. Sources familiar with the matter confirmed that the names of both men had been officially passed on to the negotiating parties.

Meanwhile, Valizadeh managed to smuggle out an audio recording from Evin Prison, which was aired by CBS. He revealed that three additional American citizens are being held behind the prison walls, and said that all of them are suffering from various illnesses while prison authorities are deliberately denying them proper medical care.