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US Calls on Iran to Immediately Release All ‘Wrongfully’ Detained Citizens

US Ambassador to Switzerland Edward McMullen greets Xiyue Wang in Zurich, Switzerland. (US Embassy in Switzerland)
US Ambassador to Switzerland Edward McMullen greets Xiyue Wang in Zurich, Switzerland. (US Embassy in Switzerland)
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US Calls on Iran to Immediately Release All ‘Wrongfully’ Detained Citizens

US Ambassador to Switzerland Edward McMullen greets Xiyue Wang in Zurich, Switzerland. (US Embassy in Switzerland)
US Ambassador to Switzerland Edward McMullen greets Xiyue Wang in Zurich, Switzerland. (US Embassy in Switzerland)

The US called on Tehran to immediately and safely release all US citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran.

Speaking at a press briefing, State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter stressed that the “abhorrent act of unjust detentions” for political gain must cease immediately, whether in Iran or anywhere around the world.

Iran must also account for the fate of Robert Levinson, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz, who is a UK citizen, said Porter.

“This weekend marks 2,000 days since Iran arrested Siamak Namazi for being a US citizen. Siamak Namazi was a businessman living in Tehran when he was arrested in October of 2015. When his father, 84-year-old Baquer Namazi, traveled to Iran to help free his son, the Iranian government arrested him too.”

Porter explained that Siamak and Baquer were arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison on baseless charges.

The Iranian government continues to treat the Namazi’s as political pawns, indicated Porter, warning that “this terrible milestone should offend all who believe in the rule of law.”

Also at a press conference, spokesman Ned Price addressed human rights violations in Iran, asserting that the American administration made it clear that there is no higher priority than the safe return of US citizens unjustly detained or missing in Iran.

In response to a question by Asharq Al-Awsat, Price confirmed that the administration will continue to make clear to the Iranians that this practice is unacceptable.

“Secretary Blinken, of course, issued a very strong message about the state taking of hostages, using people for political pawns. He condemned it.”

Price said Iran’s leaders have no misimpression about where “we stand on this issue. It is of paramount importance to us.”

Addressing the nuclear deal, Price stated that Washington is pursuing an agreement that provides verifiable and permanent limits on Iran’s nuclear program and will desist in all efforts to secure a safe return of US who are detained inside Iran.

The US administration had launched indirect talks with the Iranian regime, via Swiss mediation, to release US citizens detained in Iran.

Iran is accused of arresting US citizens and using them as hostages for political gain, as it is holding now more than five citizens with dual nationalities, including the businessman Emad Sharghi, who was convicted a few weeks before Biden took office on fabricated charges of espionage.

Former US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien concluded a deal to release US detainee, Xiyue Wang, who was studying the Persian language in Iran and was arrested in August 2016 on espionage.

The US administration and the family of FBI agent Robert Levinson believe he died in detention in Iran. He disappeared 10 years ago on Kish island.

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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye on Thursday insisted the PKK and all groups allied with it must disarm and disband "immediately", a week after a historic call by the Kurdish militant group's jailed founder.

"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end all terrorist activities, dissolve and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a Turkish defense ministry source said.

The remarks made clear the demand referred to all manifestations of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, costing tens of thousands of lives.

Although the insurgency targeted Türkiye, the PKK's leadership is based in the mountains of northern Iraq and its fighters are also part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key force in northeastern Syria.

Last week, Ocalan made a historic call urging the PKK to dissolve and his fighters to disarm, with the group on Saturday accepting his call and declaring a ceasefire.

The same day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if the promises were not kept, Turkish forces would continue their anti-PKK operations.

"If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... or deceive... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist," he said.

- Resonance in Syria, Iraq -

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.

Ankara has made clear it wants to see all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are -- notably those in the US-backed SDF, which it sees as part of the PKK.

The SDF -- the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish YPG -- spearheaded the fight that ousted ISIS extremists from Syria in 2019, and is seen by much of the West as crucial to preventing an extremist resurgence.

Last week, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call for the PKK to lay down its weapons but said it "does not concern our forces" in northeastern Syria.

But Türkiye disagrees.

Since the toppling of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December, Ankara has threatened military action unless YPG militants are expelled, deeming them to be a regional security problem.

"Our fundamental approach is that all terrorist organizations should disarm and be dissolved in Iraq and Syria, whether they are called the PKK, the YPG or the SDF," Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AKP, said on Monday.

Ocalan's call also affects Iraq, with the PKK leadership holed up in the mountainous north where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years.

Turkish forces have also established numerous bases there, souring Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land... Iraq wants everyone to withdraw," Iraq's national security adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP.

"Turkish forces are (in Iraq) because of the PKK's presence," he said, while pointing out that Türkiye had "said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq".