Washington D.C. – March 04, 2026 – Hostage Aid welcomes the United States’ designation of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention.

Last September, President Trump issued the Executive Order to Protect U.S. Nationals from Wrongful Detention Abroad, affirming the United States Government’s commitment to use every  available tool to counter the coercive practice of wrongful detention employed by foreign adversaries and to hold those responsible accountable. Congress subsequently reinforced that commitment by enacting the Countering Wrongful Detention Act of 2025.

Under this authority, the Secretary of State is empowered to formally designate any foreign government that directly engages in, or provides support for, the wrongful detention of a U.S. national as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. The designation triggers a range of potential consequences, including diplomatic, financial, and travel-related measures intended to impose costs and deter future hostage-taking.

For decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has used innocent civilians as political pawns in a reprehensible practice of hostage diplomacy. This action is an important and long-overdue step toward accountability for conduct that began 47 years ago, when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Among them was Hostage Aid’s co-founder, Barry Rosen.

Since that time, Iran has continued its pattern of wrongful detentions, targeting Americans and foreign nationals to this day, including Hostage Aid founder Nizar Zakka who was kidnapped in 2015.

Hostage Aid also welcomes the FBI’s announcement that it will coordinate with federal and international partners to secure the return of Americans held in Iran and pursue accountability for those responsible. Hostage Aid has long called on governments around the world to unite and establish a coordinated international task force to confront hostage diplomacy and ensure that there are real, sustained consequences for those who engage in it.

This designation must be the first step, not the last, in ending the cruel practice of hostage diplomacy. Governments that continue the unlawful detention of Americans and foreign nationals should take notice. The United States and its allies must remain steadfast in confronting hostage diplomacy wherever it occurs, and all countries engaged in this practice must be held accountable.

And today, more than ever, with the conflict escalating between the U.S. and Iran, Hostage Aid stands with all the innocent individuals including the Americans and other foreign nationals wrongfully detained in Iran, whose lives are at heightened risk as tensions escalate, and calls on the United States and its allies to act swiftly to protect them and secure their safe release.