Tehran Jails Iranian-American Jewish Man for Visiting Israel Over a Decade Ago

Latest Developments

• American Citizen Jailed by Regime: Iran imprisoned Kamran Hekmati, an elderly Iranian-American Jewish man, for traveling to Israel 13 years ago for his son’s bar mitzvah, according to members of his family. The 70-year-old New York-based jeweler traveled to Iran in May before being arrested and held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Hekmati to four years in prison for illegally visiting Israel, though his sentence was recently reduced to two years.
• Iran Holds At Least 4 Americans: Tehran is currently holding at least four American citizens, including Hekmati and journalist Reza Valizadeh, with three of the four held in prisons and one barred from exiting Iran. Neither the U.S. State Department nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations has issued statements on any of the cases, with the United States citing privacy and security concerns. The State Department did, however, offer a more general statement asserting that the United States was continuing to work with allies on “this issue and on cases of unjust detention in Iran.”
• State Department Warns Against Travel to Iran: The United States continues to implore U.S. citizens and dual citizens not to travel to Iran under any circumstances — especially following U.S. strikes against the country’s nuclear facilities in June. Despite the warning, President Masoud Pezeshkian invited diaspora Iranians to visit the country in the wake of its war with Israel, reiterating this same message at the UN General Assembly in September.

FDD Expert Response

“The United States and Israel humiliated Iran with their air strikes in June, and Tehran’s rulers know it. In the wake of that conflict, the Islamic Republic seeks to project strength by detaining another Iranian American — a longstanding practice of the regime aimed at extorting concessions from the United States. Ultimately, however, such arrests convey more weakness than strength, as they show that Tehran lacks the means and will to retaliate against its adversaries in a militarily significant way.” — Tzvi Kahn, Research Fellow and Senior Editor

“Between 5 and 8 million Iranians live in the diaspora. The vast majority left Iran after 1979 for political, religious, social, or economic reasons. The regime often prevents travel to Iran, access to personal assets or family inheritance, or relatives’ ability to leave the country so as to control and blackmail members of the diaspora.” — Saeed Ghasseminejad, Senior Iran and Financial Economics Advisor

FDD Background and Analysis

“Iranians Challenge the Regime by Celebrating Cyrus the Great,” by Janatan Sayeh and Behnam Ben Taleblu

“Report: Iran rebuilding its ballistic missile program,” by Joe Truzman

“Why Iran Won’t Follow FATF Counter-Terrorism Rules,” by Saeed Ghasseminejad and Toby Dershowitz

“In Iran, Western journalists prioritize access over truth,” by Mehdi Parpanchi and Mark Dubowitz