The Islamic Republic of Iran has, since its early years and the Iran hostage crisis , engaged in repeated dubious detention of foreign or dual nationals.[ 1] This occurred for extended period, with long documented history of using the detained party as a bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations.[ 2] The list below of current and former detainees in Iran excludes people abducted in other countries and brought into the country.[why? ]
Since the Iran hostage crisis , the Islamic Republic of Iran has engaged in a pattern of detaining foreign nationals for extended periods.[ 1] According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran , the Iranian government has used imprisoned dual and foreign-only nationals "as bargaining chips in its dealings with other nations."[ 3] Iran's repeated dubious detention of dual citizen and thereafter bargaining behavior have lead observers to qualify the practice as a case of hostage diplomacy, with a long documented history.[ 2]
According to French ex-hostage Louis Arnaud, who spent two years in Iranian custody, those detained are usually kept in solitary confinement. In an interview, he said that "Everything is done so that you are deprived of your humanity".[ 4]
Dual nationals of Iran and another country are particularly vulnerable to arbitrary detention because the international Master Nationality Rule provides that "a State may not afford diplomatic protection to one of its nationals against a state whose nationality such person also possesses".[ 5]
According to Human Rights Watch , "Iranian authorities have violated detainees' due process rights and carried out a pattern of politically motivated arrests."[ 6] In November 2017, Reuters reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had arrested "at least 30 dual nationals during the past two years, mostly on spying charges."[ 7]
In September 2019, on the sidelines of the Seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly , families of dual and foreign nationals imprisoned in Iran as well former dual and foreign nationals imprisoned in Iran launched the "Alliance of Families Against State Hostage Taking."[ 8] [ 9] [ 10]
In January 2023, France called for the release of seven nationals, who were held in Iran . One of the detainees, Fariba Adelkhak was arrested in June 2019, along with her colleague Roland Marchal . While Marchal was released in 2020, but Fraiban Adelkhak remained in prison amid mounting political tensions in Iran.[ 11]
Current foreign nationals imprisoned in Iran [ edit ] Name Detained Citizenship Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Nazak Afshar 12 March 2016 France 3240 [ 12] Ahmad Reza Jalali 24 April 2016 Sweden 3197 [ 13] [ 14] Abdolrasoul Dorri-Esfahani August 2016 Canada ~3098 In May 2017, convicted on espionage charges, including "collaborating with the British secret service," and sentenced to five years in prison. [ 15] Nahid Taghavi 16 October 2020 Germany 1561 [ 16] Mehran Raoof 16 October 2020 UK 1561 [ 17]
Azerbaijani citizens [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Farid Safarli 5 March 2023 18 January 2025 685 Initial accusation "Espionage" later changed to "Intention to Espionage" as a result of which he received 2 years of sentence. 53 days in solitary confinement A student at a german university at the time of arrest
[ 18]
U.S. permanent residents [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Afshin Sheikholeslami Vatani 27 June 2020 In detention 1672 Released on bail in February 2019 but reportedly has not been permitted to leave Iran and then arrested again in 2020. [ 51] Afarin Neyssari 20 July 2016 21 July 2018 731 Released on bail but reportedly has not been permitted to leave Iran. [ 26] [ 27] Shahab Dalili 20 March 2016 In detention 3232 cooperating with a hostile government U.S. permanent resident [ 52] Jamshid Sharmahd 1 August 2020 Executed on 28 October 2024 1549 Accused of complicity in the 2008 Shiraz bombing . German citizen and U.S. permanent resident. Jimmy was kidnapped on a business trip to India and taken to Iran. He has spent the entire detention at an unknown location, in solitary confinement and after what Amnesty International calls a sham trial condemned to death. [ 53] [ 54]
Iran hostage crisis detainees (1979–1981)[ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Notes Cynthia Dwyer 5 May 1980 10 February 1981 281 Civilian. Freelance writer convicted on trumped-up charges of espionage and other crimes[ 55] Mohi Sobhani 6 September 1980 4 February 1981 151 Civilian[ 56] Thomas L. Ahern, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Clair Cortland Barnes 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 William E. Belk 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Robert O. Blucker 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Donald J. Cooke 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 William J. Daugherty 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Robert Englemann 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 William Gallegos 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Bruce W. German 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Duane L. Gillette 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Alan B. Golacinski 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 John E. Graves 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Joseph M. Hall 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Kevin J. Hermening 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Donald R. Hohman 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Leland J. Holland 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Michael Howland 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Charles A. Jones, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Malcolm K. Kalp 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Moorhead C. Kennedy Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 William F. Keough, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Steven W. Kirtley 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Kathryn L. Koob 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Frederick Lee Kupke 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Bruce Laingen 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Steven Lauterbach 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Gary E. Lee 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Paul Edward Lewis 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 John Limbert 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 John D. McKeel, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Michael J. Metrinko 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Jerry J. Miele 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Michael E. Moeller 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Bert C. Moore 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Richard Morefield 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Paul M. Needham, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Robert C. Ode 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Gregory A. Persinger 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Jerry Plotkin 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Civilian Regis Ragan 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 David M. Roeder 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Barry M. Rosen 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 William B. Royer, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Thomas E. Schaefer 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Charles W. Scott 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Donald A. Sharer 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Rodney V. Sickmann 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Joseph Subic, Jr. 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Elizabeth Ann Swift 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Victor L. Tomseth 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Phillip R. Ward 4 November 1979 20 January 1981 444 Richard Queen 4 November 1979 11 July 1980 250 Wesley Williams 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Joan Walsh 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 David Walker 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Joseph Vincent 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Terri Tedford 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Neal Robinson 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Lloyd Rollins 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Elizabeth Montagne 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Lillian Johnson 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 James Hughes 4 November 1979 20 November 1979 16 Kathy Gross 4 November 1979 19 November 1979 15 Ladell Maples 4 November 1979 19 November 1979 15 William Quarles 4 November 1979 19 November 1979 15
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Mehran Raoof 16 October 2020 In detention 1561 [ 17] Kameel Ahmady 11 August 2019 17 November 2019 98 Released on bail. Fled the Regime[ 57] [ 12] [ 58] Abbas Edalat 15 April 2018 December 2018 ~230 Morad Tahbaz January 2018 18 September 2023 ~2086 Conspiring with America Member of group of 5 released in Sept 2023 in exchange for 5 U.S. prisoners and unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian assets. (Iranian national who also holds US and UK citizenship.) [ 3] [ 19] Anoush Ashoori August 2017 16 March 2022 ~1688 Convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad and sentenced to 12 years in prison. [ 12] Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe 3 April 2016 17 March 2020 (parole within 300 metres of house)16 March 2022 2173 (part parole) Sentenced to 5 years for ‘plotting to topple the Iranian government’. Iran (birth)/UK (2013) dual citizen [ 59] [ 60] [ 61] Kamal Foroughi 5 May 2011 1 April 2020 3284 [ 62] Ghoncheh Ghavami 20 June 2014 23 November 2014 156 [ 63] Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht October 2013 25 August 2017 ~1424 Subject to travel ban after release. Unclear if she has been permitted to depart Iran. [ 12] [ 64] Andrew Barber 21 June 2010 18 August 2010 58 [ 65] Iason Athanasiadis 17 June 2009 5 July 2009 18 Also holds Greek citizenship. [ 66] [ 67] Roger Cooper 7 December 1985 1 April 1991 1941 [ 68] Frank Skinner 27 April 1981 13 April 1982 351 Flight engineer for Iran Air held without charge. [ 69] [ 70] Andrew Pyke 27 August 1980 28 January 1982 519 British businessman who worked for Dutch-Iranian helicopter firm, accused of spying but was never charged. [ 69]
List of British permanent residents [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Aras Amiri 14 March 2018 16 August 2021 1251 Sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying. [ 71] Ana Diamond 10 January 2016 January 2018 722 Arbitrary detention, falsely accused of espionage for "MI6 , CIA , Mossad , and others." UK Permanent Resident at the time of arrest, as well as British naturalisation application in place. Subjected to travel ban shortly after her arrival in Iran in August 2014, ~500-days before her arrest in January 2016. Travel ban imposed again following her release from Evin prison on bail in August 2016. Acquitted of all charges and travel ban lifted in 2018.
[ 72] [ 73]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Kavous Seyed-Emami 24 January 2018 8 February 2018 15 Died in custody under suspicious circumstances. Authorities say he committed suicide. [ 22] [ 74] Abdolrasoul Dorri-Esfahani August 2016 In detention ~3098 In May 2017, convicted on espionage charges, including "collaborating with the British secret service," and sentenced to five years in prison. [ 15] Homa Hoodfar 6 June 2016 26 September 2016 112 Undisclosed "security" charges Before arrest, had been prevented from leaving country from March 2016. [ 75] Maziar Bahari 21 June 2009 17 October 2009 118 [ 76] Hossein Derakhshan 1 November 2008 19 November 2014 2209 Sentenced to 19.5 years on "several national security, obscenity and religious insult charges in connection with his online activism." [ 77] Hamid Ghassemi-Shall 24 May 2008 23 September 2013 1948 [ 78] Zahra Kazemi 23 June 2003 10 July 2003 17 Died in custody as a result of torture . [ 79] Ramin Jahanbegloo 27 April 2006 30 August 2006 125 Plotting a "velvet revolution " [ 80] Philip Engs 3 December 1986 8 February 1987 67 Manager of oil services company, held in solitary confinement and interrogated at Evin Prison on ““Suspicion of espionage”’, never formally charged, and then released unharmed. Concessions were made by his employer on their contract for services with NIOC while he was detained. [ 81]
Canadian permanent residents [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Saeed Malekpour 4 October 2008 ~August 2019 ~3953 Escaped Iran while on furlough from prison. [ 82] [ 83]
Australian citizens [ edit ] New Zealand citizens [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Topher Richwhite ~9 July 2022 ~27 October 2022 ~-110 Travel blogger, detained following vehicle inspection at border [ 89] Bridget Thackwray ~9 July 2022 ~27 October 2022 ~-110 Travel blogger, detained following vehicle inspection at border
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Nizar Zakka 15 September 2015 11 June 2019 1395 Permanent resident of the U.S. at time of arrest. [ 12]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Fariba Adelkhah ~5 June 2019 ~October 2023 ~1579 [ 90] [ 91] Nazak Afshar 12 March 2016 In detention 3240 [ 12] Benjamin Brière 26 May 2020 12 May 2023 1081 spying and propaganda, for flying a drone in an unauthorised area and making social media posts concerning Iranian law [ 92] [ 93] Nelly Erin-Cambervelle 21 October 2018 ~21 February 2019 ~123 "signing an illegal mining contract and carrying out an unauthorized trip" Erin-Cambervelle is a businesswoman from the French Caribbean island of Martinique. [ 94] Stéphane Lherbier 29 November 2005 25 February 2007 453 Detained with German Donald Klein. [ 95] Roland Marchal ~June 2019 20 March 2020 ~293 [ 96] Bernard Phelan 3 October 2022 12 May 2023 221 Providing information to an enemy country French-Irish. Sentenced to 6.5 years in February 2023. Had previously been sentenced to 3.5 years, and told he would be pardoned. [ 97] [ 93] Clotilde Reiss 1 July 2009 16 May 2010 319 Cécile Kohler 1 May 2022 In detention ~999 "attempting to incite unrest and helping teachers strike in Iran" [ 98]
French permanent residents [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Helmut Szimkus January 1989 14 June 1994 ~1967 [ 100] [ 101] Helmut Hofer September 1997 January 2000 852 Initially sentenced to death for having illicit sexual relations with an Iranian woman. [ 102] [ 103] Donald Klein 29 November 2005 12 March 2007 468 [ 95] [ 104] Marcus Hellwig 10 October 2010 19 February 2011 132 [ 105] Jens Koch 10 October 2010 19 February 2011 132 [ 105] Jamshid Sharmahd July 2020 Executed on 28 October 2024 1549 Journalistic activity criticizing the Islamic regime for 16 years German citizen and US national. Jimmy was kidnapped on a business trip to India and taken to Iran. He has spent the entire detention at an unknown location, in solitary confinement and after what Amnesty International calls a sham trial condemned to death. [ 106] [ 107] Nahid Taghavi 12 October 2020 In detention 1565 on 4 June 2023, Marges Mohammadi (also detained in Iran) wrote on Instagram that Taghavi's state of health is so bad that her life is in danger.[ 108] [ 109]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Yulia Yuzik 2 October 2019 10 October 2019 8 [ 111]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Sabri Hassanpour 19 April 2016 May 2018 ~742 [ 112] [ 113] Zahra Bahrami 27 December 2009 Executed on 29 January 2011 398 Arrested while participating in the 2009 Ashura protests . Charged with the capital crime of drug trafficking. Executed by hanging on 29 January 2011. [ 114]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Ahmad Reza Jalali 24 April 2016 In detention 3197 [ 115] [ 116] Habib Chaab ~October 2020 Executed on 6 May 2023 ~947 Death sentence upheld by Iranian supreme court March 2023. [ 117] Johan Floderus 17 April 2023 15 June 2024 425 [ 118] [ 119] Stefan Johansson 26 February 2006 16 April 2007 414 Convicted for espionage and sentenced to 3 years in prison. [ 120] Jari Hjortmar 26 February 2006 16 April 2007 414 Convicted for espionage and sentenced to 3 years in prison. [ 120]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Ana Diamond 10 January 2016 January 2018 ~722 Arbitrary detention, later falsely accused of espionage for "MI6 , CIA , Mossad , and others." UK Permanent Resident at the time of arrest, as well as British naturalisation application in place. Subjected to travel ban shortly after her arrival in Iran in August 2014, ~500-days before her arrest in January 2016. Travel ban imposed again following her release from Evin prison on bail in August 2016. Acquitted of all charges in 2017 and travel ban lifted in May 2018.
[ 121] [ 122]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Olivier Vandecasteele February 2022 26 May 2023 ~479 [ 123] Diego Mathieu 16 September 2009 8 December 2009 83 [ 124] Vincent Boon Falleur 5 September 2009 8 December 2009 94 [ 125] Idesbald van den Bosch 5 September 2009 8 December 2009 94 [ 125]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Cecilia Sala 19 December 2024 8 January 2025 -20 [ 18]
Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Silva Harotonian 26 June 2008 10 March 2009 257 Convicted of promoting a "soft" revolution in Iran on January 19, 2009, and sentenced to 3 years in prison. At the time of her arrest, Harotonian was an administrative officer for a maternal and child health project in Tehran for International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), a U.S. government-funded organization. [ 126]
South African citizens [ edit ] Name Detained Released Days in detention Reason for detention Notes Ref. Stuart Timm 10 January 1997 17 February 1997 38 [ 46]
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