U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler reportedly visited Iraq last month to push for the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian researcher kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023.
Emma Tsurkov, Elizabeth’s sister, told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday that Boehler had met in person with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad to discuss the matter.
“The Trump Administration has done more in just a few weeks than the previous administration did in almost two years,” she said.
“I am especially grateful to Boehler for going directly to meet with Prime Minister Sudani in Baghdad. His engagement with Sudani makes it clear that the U.S. holds Sudani responsible for finding a way to get my sister home.”
An unnamed Iraqi official confirmed that Boehler visited Iraq in February to push for the release of Tsurkov, Reuters reported.
Elizabeth Tsurkov was a student at Princeton University when she had gone missing in Iraq during a research trip.
She has been held captive in Iraq by Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah (“The Battalions of the Party of God”). Washington has designated the group (a separate organization from the Lebanese Hezbollah) as a terrorist organization.
Boehler is seeking to release Tsurkov in exchange for six members of Hezbollah, apparently held by Israel, a source speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters.
“The United States cannot tolerate hostage-taking of U.S. nationals or those of our partners such as Israel. We have and will continue to underscore with the Iraqi government the urgency of securing Elizabeth Tsurkov’s release,” a State Department spokesperson remarked.
On Tuesday, Hebrew-language media reported that Israel had launched diplomatic negotiations with Lebanon over the land border and released five Lebanese prisoners, arrested during the war, as a “gesture” to new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement: “In coordination with the U.S. and as a gesture to the new Lebanese president, Israel has agreed to release five Lebanese detainees.”
On Feb. 5, Boehler wrote on X, “Elizabeth Tsurkov is a Princeton student held hostage in Iraq! The [Iraqi prime minister] consistently made false promises to the prior administration about releasing her. BUT NOW [U.S. President Donald Trump] IS ON TO YOU.”
The U.S. envoy went on to say that if Tsurkov is not released, then the Iraqi prime minister’s office is “either incapable and should be FIRED or worse COMPLICIT. Bring Elizabeth home now!”
Last week, Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji said that authorities are actively searching for Tsurkov. “Iraqi authorities are working under the prime minister’s direction,” he told AFP.
“The security services are actively working to locate her and identify the group responsible for her kidnapping,” al-Araji said, adding that no one has claimed responsibility or made demands for her release.
“We must operate discreetly and through intermediaries to track her down,” he said.
