Freed Hostage Morad Tahbaz Warns 3 Americans in Iran Face Greater Risk as Conflict Escalates
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 28
Freed Hostage Morad Tahbaz Warns 3 Americans in Iran Face Greater Risk as Conflict Escalates
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 28
Summary
Nearly three years after his September 2023 release, Morad Tahbaz said renewed US-Iran conflict could make Americans still held by Iran both more vulnerable in custody and more valuable as bargaining chips.
Tahbaz, jailed for nearly six years in Evin Prison, described months of solitary confinement under constant light and said interrogators tied his treatment to US-Iran tensions, making him fear current strikes will again be taken out on detainees.
A Qatar-mediated 2023 swap freed Tahbaz and four other Americans in exchange for five Iranians and access to $6 billion in restricted Iranian funds, but he said such deals have not deterred Tehran's long-running hostage-taking.
Reuters reported in March that at least six US citizens or permanent residents were detained in Iran, while Tahbaz said he believes three Americans remain in custody; some cases stay private because families fear publicity could worsen the danger.
Tahbaz argued dual nationals are especially exposed because Iran ignores their foreign citizenship, and he said only meaningful consequences for detentions—not ad hoc negotiations—will curb the practice.
As US-Iran tensions simmer, could the very diplomatic deals meant to free hostages actually be sealing the fate of those left behind?
If paying for freedom incentivizes capture, how can international powers permanently dismantle Iran's hostage diplomacy without sacrificing innocent lives?
With executions surging in Evin Prison, what secret leverage can the West deploy before detainees facing severe illness run out of time?