Dual US-Iranian national Reza Valizadeh (pictured), a former journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has been arrested in Iran’s capital Tehran.

Valizadeh was held about three weeks ago and is facing charges such as cooperation with Farsi-language media abroad, one of his relatives said.

Iranian officials have not yet commented on the arrest.

Valizadeh left his job at RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, which focuses on Iran, in November 2022. In his last post on Twitter on August 13, Valizadeh said he had traveled to Tehran on March 16.

The journalist said he “half-finished” negotiations with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ intelligence organization, but decided to return to Iran after 14 years on his own responsibility and “without a letter of trust, even verbally”.

Iran’s security services and military have imprisoned a series of foreign and dual nationals, often using them as leverage in negotiations.

Journalists for outlets such as RFE/RL, which is funded by the US Government; BBC Persian. and Saudi-funded Iran International have been threatened inside and outside Iran. Some have been targeted with violence, while the relatives of others have been harassed and threatened with loss of property.

See also Iran Authorities Step Up Threats v. BBC Journalists