Washington, D.C. – Committee to Protect Journalists, Sept. 03, 2025
Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh has spent more than a year imprisoned in Iran, enduring severe psychological torment and relentless interrogations for the simple fact that he is a journalist. Initially detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison, his already dire situation deteriorated significantly after a devastating Israeli attack on the facility. Valizadeh was transferred to the dangerously overcrowded and medically inadequate Fashafouyeh Prison, where extreme neglect and inhumane conditions severely affected his health. On August 9, 2025, he was transferred back to Evin.
Valizadeh began his independent journalism career more than two decades ago in Iran, where he was arrested in 2007 for a blog post criticizing then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s security team. He was later forced to flee the country during the 2009 Green Movement, which arose in reaction to what many believed were fraudulent election results. After receiving asylum in France in 2009, Valizadeh spent over a decade working with prominent Persian-language media outlets such as Persian RFI and Radio Farda, the Persian arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
The U.S. State Department told CPJ that the Trump administration is “closely tracking Mr. Valizadeh’s case” and that it calls on Iran “to immediately release Mr. Valizadeh and all unjustly detained individuals in Iran.” The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not reply to an emailed request for comment.
