The U.S. State Department has designated an Iranian-American man imprisoned in Iran as “wrongfully detained,” according to his family, a move that could intensify U.S. efforts to secure his release.
Kamran Hekmati, a 70-year-old dual U.S.–Iranian citizen and Persian Jew from Great Neck, N.Y., was arrested last July while visiting relatives in Iran. Iranian authorities later sentenced him to prison for traveling to Israel some 13 years earlier to attend his son’s bar mitzvah—an act that can be prosecuted under Iranian law.
Hekmati, who reportedly suffers from aggressive bladder cancer, is being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, a facility long criticized by human rights groups over conditions and treatment of detainees.
Iran reportedly charged Hekmati again in December, accusing him of meeting with Mossad agents abroad.
According to Reuters, Shohreh Nowfar, Hekmati’s cousin, said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed the family on Monday of the designation, which places the case under the authority of the U.S. government’s hostage affairs office and can unlock additional diplomatic resources.
“This designation is an official recognition by the U.S. government that Kamran is being held on false charges in an effort by the Iranians to leverage the U.S. government,” Nowfar stated. “It reassures us that our government has our back in the effort to get Kamran home safely.”
The State Department has not publicly confirmed the designation.
The development comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. On Feb. 27, Rubio designated Iran a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” citing what he described as the regime’s ongoing practice of detaining foreign nationals to gain political leverage.
Iran has “continued to cruelly detain innocent Americans, as well as citizens of other nations, to use as political leverage against other states,” Rubio said at the time, calling it an “abhorrent practice” that “must end.”
The move followed a Sept. 5 executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at protecting Americans from wrongful detention abroad, as well as subsequent congressional legislation granting the administration authority to impose such designations.
“If Iran does not stop, we will be forced to consider additional measures, including a potential geographic travel restriction on the use of U.S. passports to, through or from Iran,” Rubio said.
Iran is believed to be holding at least four Americans, though some groups estimate as many as eight. The State Department does not disclose such figures due to security considerations.
Among them is Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh, a former Radio Farda employee who was arrested in Tehran in 2024 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of collaborating with a “hostile government,” according to rights groups and media reports. He was designated as “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. government in May 2025.
Analysts and advocates say such detentions reflect Tehran’s longstanding use of so-called “hostage diplomacy,” in which dual nationals are held as bargaining chips in disputes with Western governments.
Rubio has repeatedly warned that “no American should travel to Iran for any reason,” urging U.S. citizens currently in the country to leave immediately.
