US detainees in Iran risk becoming collateral damage in war, families and supporters fear

American Detainees in Iran Face Heightened Dangers Amid Escalating Conflict

Americans detained in Iran are facing unprecedented dangers as military tensions between Israel, the United States, and Iran intensify, according to family members and advocates who fear their loved ones could become unintended casualties of airstrikes or targets of retaliation by Iranian authorities.

“For Americans imprisoned in Iran, this is about as terrifying a moment as it gets,” said Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American who spent nearly eight years in detention before being released in a 2023 prisoner exchange with the United States. “What these families are facing now is days of war with no clear end in sight.”

While the U.S. government has not confirmed the exact number of Americans currently held in Iran, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, a hostage advocacy organization, reports that six Americans are in custody and facing “unprecedented danger” due to the ongoing military conflict.

At least two of the known detainees are being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, a high-security facility that houses many political prisoners and has been mentioned in Israeli military evacuation warnings. The facility has been a target of Israeli bombardment in the past, raising serious concerns about the safety of those inside.

Kamran Hekmati, a 61-year-old jewelry business owner from Long Island, spoke with his wife on Monday to assure her of his immediate safety, according to his cousin, Shohreh Nowfar. However, the family remains deeply concerned about his health, as he hasn’t been receiving regular treatments for bladder cancer since his detention began.

“It’s an uncertain time in an uncertain country,” said Nowfar, who resides in Los Angeles.

The precarious situation extends to other Americans, including Reza Valizadeh, an Iranian American journalist who previously worked for Radio Farda, the Persian-language arm of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe. Ryan Fayhee, Valizadeh’s attorney, has been in regular communication with White House and State Department officials to emphasize the urgency of the situation.

“It’s my job to let the administration and the Israeli government know that there are innocent American citizens within that prison,” Fayhee said. “They should take great care with this military action to avoid any unfortunate collateral damage.”

Recent Israeli military social media posts have warned residents living near Evin Prison to evacuate amid continuing airstrikes. Families of other foreign nationals imprisoned at Evin have reported to European news outlets that bombs have struck close enough to the facility to shatter windows.

The White House and State Department have declined to provide specific details about the status of the detainees, citing safety and security concerns, but they continue to call for their immediate release.

“President Trump has been clear that he wants every American wrongfully detained to be returned home safe and sound, and that there will be dire consequences for regimes who treat Americans as political pawns,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson.

Valizadeh, 50, is one of at least 15 journalists currently jailed in Iran, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He fled Iran in 2009 after reporting on pro-democracy protests and obtained U.S. citizenship in 2022 while working in Washington. Upon returning to Iran in 2024 to visit his elderly parents, he was detained and subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of collaborating with the U.S. government. The United States has officially designated him as wrongfully detained.

Another American in custody is Afarin Mohajer, a California resident originally from Iran. She was detained in September and charged with posting anti-regime propaganda on social media and insulting Iran’s Supreme Leader and Islam, according to her son Reza Zarrabi, a political activist living in Germany. Zarrabi believes his mother, who is not politically active, was arrested to silence his outspoken opposition to the Iranian regime.

The Hekmati family is convinced that Kamran is the latest victim of Iran’s “hostage diplomacy,” a practice the country has employed for decades to secure the release of Iranians detained abroad or to extract concessions from Washington. Just before the recent conflict escalated, the U.S. State Department designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention.

Nowfar explained that her cousin left Iran after the 1979 revolution but has returned several times without issue. In May, however, Iranian authorities stopped him at the airport, seized his passport, and prevented him from leaving the country. He was eventually charged under an Iranian law that criminalizes visits to Israel within the past ten years, although his family maintains his last trip to Israel was approximately 13 years ago for his son’s Bar Mitzvah. They also dispute espionage-related charges accusing him of meeting with Mossad agents.

“They just wanted to have a hostage. An American hostage,” Nowfar said.

Kieran Ramsey, chief investigative officer at Global Reach, a nonprofit working on Hekmati’s case, expressed additional concerns about his treatment as both an American and Jewish detainee in the Iranian system.

Namazi, reflecting on his own experience, recalled a chaotic prison fire in 2022 that killed at least eight inmates at Evin. “I remember the smoke, the confusion, and the total absence of reliable information,” the 54-year-old Washington resident said. “For us prisoners it was terrifying. My mother says that night was one of the hardest she endured.”

As the conflict continues to escalate, families of detained Americans remain in a state of heightened anxiety, desperately seeking information while hoping for their loved ones’ safe return home.