Washington, D.C. – May 19, 2026 – Finally, a deeply painful chapter that kept a family separated for over a decade, has come to an end. Hostage Aid Worldwide gladly announces the return of Shahab Dalili from Iran after years of suffering, uncertainty, and separation, ending an ordeal that had a devastating impact on all those involved. Shahab’s liberation marks a moment of long-overdue and profound relief, and emotional reunification for a family that never stopped fighting to bring him home.
Dalili, a longtime Virginia resident and U.S. lawful permanent resident, was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2016 while visiting Iran to attend his father’s funeral. As he prepared to return home to the United States, he was detained at the airport. Shahab was reportedly accused by Iranian authorities of “collaboration with a hostile government, namely the U.S., and later sentenced and imprisoned in Evin Prison. His case became one of the examples of Iran’s use of hostage diplomacy and arbitrary detention.
Despite enduring years of unjust imprisonment in Iran, Shahab Dalili was never formally designated as wrongfully detained by the United States government. As other wrongful detainees drew international attention, Shahab’s family and advocates watched his name repeatedly left out of negotiations and public messaging, leading many supporters to describe him as “the forgotten hostage.”
“For over ten years, this family lived through unimaginable pain and suffering waiting for this moment,” said Nizar Zakka, President of Hostage Aid Worldwide, himself a former hostage in Iran and Shahab Dalili’s former cellmate in Evin Prison.
“Shahab Dalili is finally home. After years stolen from his life, years marked by separation, fear, and uncertainty, he can finally embrace his family again as a free man. There are no words powerful enough to describe what this moment means for the people who never stopped fighting for him. Now, that nightmare ends and a family can breathe again. And now, former hostages who once shared the same prison cell: Shahab, Xiyue Wang, and myself, are reunited in freedom.” stated Nizar.
After leaving Iran, Shahab traveled to Yerevan, Armenia, where he received his travel documents from the U.S. Embassy before boarding the final leg of his journey to Washington, D.C.
Throughout Shahab’s imprisonment, Hostage Aid led sustained efforts to raise awareness and keep attention on his case through media outreach, public campaigns, meetings with officials, and coordinated awareness initiatives.
A defining moment in the campaign came in 2023 during negotiations between the United States and Iran over a major prisoner exchange agreement, which Dalili was later excluded from. Hostage Aid and Shahab’s family and supporters organized a sit-in outside the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C and in front of the White House, demanding immediate action to include him in the deal and bring him home. Shahab’s son, Darian, emerged as a powerful advocate for his father, conducting interviews, demonstrations, and a hunger strike that drew national attention to Shahab’s continued detention. The sit-in became a symbol of the anguish experienced by families fighting to bring forgotten loved ones home from unlawful detention abroad.
The sit-in and hunger strike forced long-overdue engagement from U.S. officials for the first time since Shahab’s incarceration. Acting Special Envoy for Iran at that time, Abram Paley, opened direct communication with the Dalili family following mounting public pressure.
“Tonight, one family is whole again,” Zakka said. “But others are still trapped in this nightmare. Americans continue to be wrongfully detained by the Iranian regime, and their families continue to suffer while waiting for answers.”
Hostage Aid urges the Trump administration to continue to make the freedom of hostages and wrongful detainees an urgent priority and to ensure that every American currently unlawfully detained in Iran is included in any future negotiations or agreements with the regime. No family should ever have to spend years begging for the return of someone they love. And no hostage should ever be forgotten.
Hostage Aid Worldwide remains committed to advocating for the release of all hostages and wrongful detainees worldwide.
