The State Department confirmed this week that Iran's Islamist terrorist regime has kidnapped American journalist Reza Valizadeh. statement To the Associated Press.
Mr. Valizadeh is a dual American-Iranian citizen and former reporter for Radio Farda and Radio Farda, the Iranian division of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) network. reported He disappeared in September, according to anonymous family members, but the Iranian regime has not confirmed his imprisonment, and no information has surfaced explaining his detention.
Iran marked the 45th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution on Monday. siege The assault on the American embassy in Tehran was a significant act of violence in the great Iranian revolution that brought the current terrorist regime to power. Iranian authorities have significantly increased the amount of violent rhetoric against the United States and Israel in the past two weeks, part of Tehran's larger war against Israel with terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, and more recently. executed a California man who had been imprisoned for years on suspicion of terrorism. ”
Iran's violent behavior has not improved even under the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, who has prioritized a conciliatory policy toward the regime. Mr. Biden infamously released billions of dollars in Iranian assets to his administration, allowing it to finance major terrorist groups around the world and fast-track Iran's illegal nuclear program. Despite failed attempts to repair the disgraced 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has vocally accused Iran of flagrant disregard for international law over the past year.
A senior Iranian official, Chairman of the Foreign and Strategic Council Kamal Khalaj, suggested on Friday that Iran could soon approve the development of a nuclear bomb if necessary to attack Israel.
“If the Islamic Republic of Iran faces an existential crisis, we will inevitably change our military doctrine.” [to allow nuclear weapons]''Kharaj said, according to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV. “We now have the capacity we need for production. [nuclear] Weapons, and the only obstacle is the leader's fatwa It prohibits the production of nuclear weapons. ”
Iran has long maintained that its “supreme leader” Ali Khamenei made the statement. fatwaor a religious edict prohibiting nuclear weapons, but no evidence containing legal documents has been issued. fatwassuch a dict order exists.
Valizadeh's disappearance in September occurred within the larger context of Iranian wrongdoing. The State Department provided minimal information to The Associated Press about the journalist's current status.
“We are working with our Swiss partners, who act as a protective force for the United States in Iran, to gather further information regarding this incident,” the State Department said. “Iran routinely wrongfully imprisons U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for political purposes. This practice is cruel and violates international law.”
RFE/RL reported that Valizadeh published a strange document in August, shortly before his disappearance. post On the social messaging site Twitter, he claimed he had voluntarily returned to Iran and was holding “unfinished negotiations” with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Valizadeh last posted on the site in February, before receiving a mysterious message.
Valizadeh is the first Iranian-American to be jailed since September 2023, when Biden approved a deal in which Iran released five Americans in exchange for $6 billion. The hostage trade infuriated many Americans, some whose families were still imprisoned in Iran, but the Biden administration insisted that the money was “not ransom” and that Iran was willing to accept the money as legal. He suggested that it can only be used for expenses that are More than a year later, Iran's terrorist proxy group Hamas launched a major attack on Israel, invading the country and killing 1,200 people, abducting more than 200 others and committing widespread human rights atrocities. Iran is the world's most prolific state sponsor of terrorism. The State Department estimates that Iran is spending about that $100 million annually It funds Hamas and similar Palestinian terrorist organizations.
Iran last week executed Jamshid Sharmahad, a California man who held dual German-Iranian citizenship and openly opposed the terrorist regime, infuriating the Iranian-American community. Mr. Sharmahad had lived in the United States for many years, and relatives said he was working toward obtaining American citizenship before being abducted by the Iranian regime in Dubai. The Iranian government sentenced him to death in September 2023 for his role in the 2008 mosque bombing. Authorities provided no significant evidence to support this claim, and American and German officials denounced his imprisonment as a kidnapping.
Iranian officials claimed last week after Mr. Sharmahd's killing that he was acting “under the orders of Western intelligence services, the United States, and the leaders of the child-murdering Zionist regime.”
Jamsheed Sharmahad's daughter Ghazel Sharmahad released a statement shortly after his murder, blaming the “incompetent” American and German governments for not doing enough to save him.
“You left him to die while the Biden-Harris administration handed over $6 billion to his captors and, if confirmed, his killers,” she declared.
The younger Sharmad had been a vocal critic of the $6 billion deal with Iran, accusing Biden of abandoning his father while giving Iran the power to persecute more outspoken dissidents. . In an interview in August 2023, before the $6 billion exchange was completed, Gazelle said her father “chose the United States as his home, worked hard, followed all the rules, and raised a family with four generations of U.S. citizenship around him.” I belonged and lived here.” After 20 years as a tax-paying, law-abiding resident, he would already have citizenship if it weren't for the terrorists. ”
Germany recalled its ambassador to Iran in the wake of Sharmahad's murder. As of press time, the Biden administration has not taken any action.
