Jailed Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh marks two years in Iran prison

September 22, 2026 at 02:41 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Reza Valizadeh, a dual US-Iranian citizen and former Radio Farda journalist, has spent two years in Iranian detention as of September 22. He was arrested on September 22, 2024, and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of collaborating with a hostile government. His appeal has been rejected, while the US State Department and press freedom groups continue to demand his release.

Key Facts

Reza Valizadeh was arrested on September 22, 2024, and has now been detained for two years.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2024 on charges of collaborating with a hostile government.
Valizadeh resigned from Radio Farda in November 2022 after a decade of work.
The US State Department has condemned his detention as unjust and inconsistent with international legal standards.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 177th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index.

Detention and Sentencing

Valizadeh returned to Iran in early 2024 to visit his family and was arrested on September 22 of that year. He was kept in pretrial detention before being sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2024. His appeal was rejected, and he remains imprisoned. Sources close to Valizadeh claim he fell into a security trap despite receiving unofficial assurances from Iranian security officials that he would not face legal troubles.

International Reaction

The US State Department has condemned Valizadeh's detention, calling it unjust and inconsistent with international legal standards. Press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have urged Iranian authorities to release Valizadeh immediately. Iran is routinely accused of arresting dual nationals and foreign citizens on false charges to use them to pressure Western countries. In September 2023, Iran released five Americans jailed in Iran in a prisoner swap. Earlier this month, 71-year-old Iranian-American citizen Kamran Hekmati was released from Tehran's Evin prison, but his family said he is unable to leave the country due to a travel ban.

Press Freedom Context

Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 177th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index. Only China, North Korea, and Eritrea scored lower. The Paris-based media watchdog said Iran is also one of the world's biggest jailers of journalists. Since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, Iranian authorities have launched a brutal, and sometimes deadly, crackdown on any dissent.