The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Saturday alerted U.S. citizens of ongoing security operations north and south of the embassy and in Croix-de-Bouquets. 

Heavy gunfire was reported in the Haitian capital, prompting U.S. government personnel to halt all movements, according to an alert from the Department of State.

The embassy remains open for emergency services.

Officials urged nearby U.S. citizens to avoid the area and monitor local media for updates.

UN STAFF IN HAITI TOLD TO STAY OFF STREETS AFTER GANG COALITION FLEXES MUSCLE, US MARINES FACE GUNFIRE

Armed gangs control large portions of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, according to the U.S. State Department and the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). 

Croix-de-Bouquets, one of the areas referenced in Saturday’s security alert, has long been considered a "400 Mawozo" gang stronghold.

"400 Mawozo" gang leader Joly Germine, 34, of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, was sentenced to life in prison in December for his role in the 2021 abduction of 16 American citizens, including five children, Fox News Digital previously reported.

US MARINES EXCHANGED GUNFIRE WITH SUSPECTED GANG MEMBERS IN HAITI, OFFICIAL SAYS

The victims, with Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, were on their way back from an orphanage when they were taken hostage, according to the Justice Department.

The State Department currently maintains a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory for Haiti, citing kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest and limited healthcare.

The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently revoked Iranian senior officials and their family members' privilege to travel to the U.S., citing ongoing oppression by the regime.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is accused of killing more than 6,200 protesters since Dec. 28, with nearly 17,100 additional arrests as internet communications remain halted, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

"As the people of Iran continue to fight for their basic rights, [Rubio] took action this week to revoke the privilege of Iranian senior officials and their family members to be in the United States," the State Department wrote in an X post. "Those who profit from the Iranian regime's brutal oppression are not welcome to benefit from our immigration system."

In addition to the potential civil rights violations in Iran, tensions have flared between Khamenei and President Donald Trump, as the U.S. attempts to strike a nuclear deal.

IRAN'S TOP PROSECUTOR CRITICIZES TRUMP'S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT 800+ EXECUTIONS WERE HALTED: 'COMPLETELY FALSE'

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday the nation's military is "prepared—with their fingers on the trigger—to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea."

Araghchi claimed that Iran has "always welcomed" a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable nuclear deal that would ensure Iran's rights to peaceful nuclear technology, and guarantee no nuclear weapons.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES 'FINAL' 25% TARIFF ON COUNTRIES DOING BUSINESS WITH IRAN REGIME

Trump fired back on Truth Social, warning a "massive" armada was heading to Iran "with speed and violence, if necessary."

"Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" Trump wrote in a post. "As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again."

The president said Thursday night it would be "great" if the U.S. did not have to use the military fleet.

The State Department on Wednesday also demanded Tehran overturn the death penalty for 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, a decorated Iranian wrestler who was arrested while peacefully protesting against the regime earlier this month.

Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both issued dire warnings about the pressing need to protect the endangered Syrian Kurdish population under attack by government forces in the war-torn nation.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who earlier this month ordered his army, which reportedly has a large jihadist element in it, to conquer territory controlled for more than a decade by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF.)

Writing on the social media platform X on, Graham declared, "There is strong and growing bipartisan interest in the U.S. Senate regarding the deteriorating situation in Syria. There is strong consensus that we must protect the Kurds who were there for us in destroying the ISIS caliphate, as well as many other groups."

Pompeo responded to Graham’s post, stating, "Turning our backs on our Kurdish allies would be a moral and strategic disaster."

CHAOS IN SYRIA SPARKS FEARS OF ISIS PRISON BREAKS AS US RUSHES DETAINEES TO IRAQ

The Trump administration is facing criticism from its long-standing ally, the Syrian Kurds, who played a crucial role in the defeat of the Islamic State in the heartland of the Middle East, following a U.S. government announcement on social media that seemed to hint that the partnership had ended this past week with the Kurdish-run SDF in northern Syria.

The SDF formed as a bulwark against the rapid spread of the Islamic State’s terrorist movement in 2013. ISIS created a caliphate covering significant territory in Syria and Iraq. Al-Sharaa was a former member of the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department regarding U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who also serves as the Special Envoy for Syria, for a response to his recent statement on X wrote that indicated the U.S. partnership with the SDF was over.

Barrack wrote, "The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by Kurds, proved the most effective ground partner in defeating ISIS’s territorial caliphate by 2019, detaining thousands of ISIS fighters and family members in prisons and camps like al-Hol and al-Shaddadi. At that time, there was no functioning central Syrian state to partner with — the Assad regime was weakened, contested, and not a viable partner against ISIS due to its alliances with Iran and Russia."

He added, "Today, the situation has fundamentally changed. Syria now has an acknowledged central government that has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (as its 90th member in late 2025), signaling a westward pivot and cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism."

TURKEY SAYS SYRIA USING FORCE IS AN OPTION AGAINST US-BACKED FIGHTERS WHO HELPED DEFEAT ISIS

Iham Ahmed, a prominent Syrian Kurdish politician, told Fox News Digital that, "We really wished to see a firm position from the U.S. The Kurdish people are at the risk of extermination. The U.S. does not give any solid or tangible guarantees."

Ahmed cast doubt on statements like Barrack’s, warning the "Syrian army is still consisting of radical factions that no one can trust. Alawites, Christians, Sunnis and Druze cannot trust these factions. We could face massacres, which happened in other Syrian cities."

When asked by Fox News Digital if the SDF wants Israel to intervene to aid the Kurds as it did to help the Syrian Druze and other minorities last year, Ahmed said, "Whoever wants to help us should do so – today is the day." She said that "the Islamic State is showing itself in the image of an official army. Everyone is threatened now."

She urged a "special status for the Kurdish region" in northeastern Syria.

Ahmed accused the Erdoğan government of nefarious involvement. "Turkey stands behind the attacks on our region. Turkish intelligence and small groups are leading attacks. Statements from Turkey are encouraging the extermination of our people," she claimed.

Fox News Digital sent a press query to the Turkish embassy spokesman in Washington D.C.

ISRAELI OFFICIAL ISSUES STARK WARNING AFTER CHILLING SYRIAN MILITARY WAR CHANTS SURFACE

The influential president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, wrote on X that, "Sen. Graham is right. I’ve been discussing the situation in NE Syria with Republican House leaders.  It is not in America’s interest for Islamist forces to seize territory once governed by trusted U.S. allies who protected minorities and advanced religious freedom. Yet this is happening as Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s forces move into northeast Syria, displacing the Syrian Democratic Forces — our partners in the fight against ISIS, who lost thousands of fighters, guarded U.S. bases, and detained ISIS prisoners."

He continued, "Before we place trust in al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda insurgent who fought U.S. forces in Iraq and was held at Abu Ghraib, he has to show he is trustworthy.  So far, he is failing the test."

Sinam Mohamad, the representative of the Syrian Democratic Council to the U.S., had harsh words for the administration, telling Fox News Digital, "American officials continue to describe the SDF as a reliable partner in that narrow mission. Washington avoids framing the relationship as a political alliance. The U.S. never intended a long-term political commitment to the Syrian Kurds. It was a military partnership without political guarantees. From Washington’s view, that’s consistency. From the Kurdish view, that’s betrayal."

She added there has been an announcement of a 15-day extension of a ceasefire, "But both the SDF and outside observers noted continued [Syrian] government troop buildups near Kurdish-held areas, signaling that conflict could resume." She added, "The Kurds want to have peace and stability through negotiations."

Christians in Sudan are daily facing hunger, misery and terror. The new Open Doors World Watch List for 2026, which ranks the worst countries in the world for the persecution of Christians, placed the country at No. 4, up one place from last year’s report. 

There are an estimated 2 million Christians in the conflict-ridden northeastern African country. Sudan’s civil war has raged past the 1,000- day milestone with 150,000 people reported to have been killed and more than 13 million displaced. Christians have lived in Sudan since the late first century.

Many of Sudan’s Christians live in the Nuba Mountains, part of the Kordofan region. Rafat Samir, general secretary of the Sudan Evangelical Alliance, told Fox News Digital that the "Nuba Mountains now, where the majority of our church members are  coming from, is under siege and  bombing every day for the last six months or seven months. Last week, after Christmas, they bombed our church, hospital and school."

NIGERIA NAMED EPICENTER OF GLOBAL KILLINGS OF CHRISTIANS OVER FAITH IN 2025, REPORT SAYS

Adding to the misery, a report by MEMRI, citing Christian Daily international, said 11 Sudanese Christians were killed, as they took part in a procession to their church for a religious celebration on Christmas Day by a drone operated by the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces. 18 others were injured in the attack. MEMRI reported the SAF are backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "Since the April 2023 outbreak of conflict in Sudan, we have witnessed significant backsliding in Sudan’s overall respect for fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom. This backsliding especially impacts Sudan’s oppressed ethnic and religious populations, including Christians." 

In a Fox News Digital report last year, Christians were said to be eating grass to survive. Samir says the position is even more bleak in 2026: "even the grass is gone now."

"The conflict is accelerating the erasure of ancient Christian communities and sacred heritage," Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital. "These losses will be far harder to reverse than the rebuilding of roads or ministries once the guns fall silent," she said.

CHRISTIANS TARGETED IN SYSTEMATIC KIDNAPPING CAMPAIGN IN NIGERIA BY JIHADI HERDSMEN, EXPERTS SAY

Ideologically, Sudan’s Christians face a hostile future, Samir of the Evangelical Alliance said. "Both sides in the civil conflict are daughters of the Islamist movement in Sudan, and the Islamic ideology of both of them is to not have tolerance for others. They consider everyone different from them is against them. The Christian is considered their enemy as part of their religious ideology, and opposing them their religious duty."

He continued, "So whoever does something to harm Christians is considered favorable to the law or to Allah." Samir went on to say, "the country is getting back to the dark ages."

Repeated and continuing attempts at getting the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the opposing militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to reach a ceasefire have failed. Both sides admit they are still fighting and, it’s clear, killing civilians with sustained energy, particularly in the central Sudanese region of Kordofan, home to many Christians.

"The United States is committed to ending the horrific conflict in Sudan," a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, adding, "Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working with our allies and others to facilitate a humanitarian truce and bring an end to external military support to the parties which is fueling the violence. President Trump wants peace in Sudan."     

The spokesperson continued, "The suffering of civilians has reached catastrophic levels, with millions lacking food, water and medical care. Every day of continued fighting costs more innocent lives. The war in Sudan is an enduring threat to regional stability."

The U.N. says fighting is increasing in Kordofan, with U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk telling reporters in Port Sudan on Jan. 18, "I am very worried that the atrocity crimes committed during and after the takeover of El Fasher are at grave risk of repeating themselves in the Kordofan region, where the conflict has been rapidly escalating since late October."

US AMBASSADOR MICHAEL WALTZ DECLARES ATROCITIES AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA 'GENOCIDE'

"The Kordofan states are extremely volatile," he continued, "with relentless military engagements, heavy shelling, drone bombardments and airstrikes causing widespread destruction and collapse of essential services."

Wahba said that "while the United States remains kinetically active across neighboring theaters, it is unlikely to wade directly into Sudan’s civil war."

"President Trump", Wahba added, "has signaled a clear desire to see the conflict resolved —  an objective echoed by both Egypt and Saudi Arabia — but translating that consensus into outcomes on the ground has proven far more difficult than the rhetoric suggests."

"For now," Wahba continued, "U.S. policy is centered on convening regional stakeholders and pressing for alignment among them, while prioritizing humanitarian corridors, aid delivery and coordination with partners willing to host talks. Washington is acting as a facilitator, not an enforcer."

"This posture reflects both constraint and caution. Sudan presents few reliable leverage points, no unified opposition partner, and (there’s) little appetite in Congress or the White House for another open-ended entanglement in a fragmented civil war. The result is a policy that remains fluid and reactive, and is shaped less by strategy than by crisis management," she said.

Despite everything, the Sudan Evangelical Alliance’s Samir has hope, "The Holy Spirit is moving and God's hand is working in our country. I can tell you through this evil, this darkness, the light of love of our God is lighting in many hearts. The devil is stealing people to death every day. We pray that let us Christians live for one day more, for one day more to proclaim Jesus’s message."

Tensions between Syria’s transitional government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) escalated this week after Turkey warned that Damascus could resort to military force against the group, following days of deadly clashes in and around Aleppo. The SDF played a critical role in aiding U.S. forces to defeat the Islamic State in Syria.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said Thursday that Syria’s use of force against the SDF seems an option, adding he hoped the crisis could be resolved through dialogue, according to Reuters.

The remarks came after several days of fighting between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters that displaced tens of thousands of civilians and left at least 23 people dead, Reuters reported.

The warning underscores mounting regional pressure as negotiations aimed at integrating the SDF into Syria’s national army remain stalled nearly a year after a U.S.-backed framework agreement was signed.

FROM SYRIA TO SOMALIA, US TROOPS REMAIN DEPLOYED THIS HOLIDAY SEASON UNDER MISSIONS THAT NEVER FORMALLY ENDED

The United States remains deeply involved in efforts to prevent the confrontation from spiraling, with U.S. Central Command mediating daily on the ground in Syria alongside partners such as France, the U.K., Turkey and Jordan. "CENTCOM is on the ground inside Syria playing an active mediating role every single day," said Charles Lister, senior fellow and director of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute.

"Fundamentally, the United States remains the SDF’s biggest and most important backer, supporter, provider of finance, training and, to an extent, defense," he said.

Lister said Washington has already used significant leverage, including compelling SDF leader Mazloum Abdi to sign the March 2025 framework agreement.

DEADLY STRIKE ON US TROOPS TESTS TRUMP’S COUNTER-ISIS PLAN — AND HIS TRUST IN SYRIA’S NEW LEADER

"We would not have had the March framework agreement had it not been for basically Gen. Mazloum being strong-armed onto a helicopter, flown to Damascus, and told that he needed to sign that agreement," he said.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the SDF accused Syrian government forces and Turkey of what it described as a "dangerous military escalation" across eastern Aleppo’s countryside, including Deir Hafer, Maskanah and the area surrounding the Tishreen Dam.

The SDF claimed Syrian government forces carried out more than a dozen attacks using artillery, mortars and suicide drones and said civilian infrastructure, including a post office and a bakery, was struck.

The SDF also said Turkish Bayraktar drones struck multiple SDF positions near Maskanah and Tabqah. Turkey and the Syrian government had not publicly responded to the claims.

The crisis stems from a failed March 2025 agreement intended to merge SDF forces into Syria’s Ministry of Defense.

"There’s no question that Damascus has been a tough negotiator," Lister said. "Having said that, the government has also bent significantly."

TRUMP DECLARES IMPORTANCE OF NOT DERAILING 'SYRIA'S EVOLUTION INTO A PROSPEROUS STATE'

Lister claims the deal stalled because of internal divisions within the SDF. "The fact that no deal has been implemented is quite frankly because the SDF is not a united, cohesive movement," he said. "There are elements within the SDF who absolutely do not want this deal to be implemented."

He said some factions are deliberately delaying implementation. "Their calculation is clearly that the longer that they can stall, they hope that the Syrian transitional government will do something to destroy its international credibility," Lister said. "It’s just a stall-and-wait-and-see approach."

"That approach is intrinsically dangerous," he said. "It only guarantees conflict."

"Over the past two or three days, there have been a number of Turkish drone strikes on SDF military bases in this frontline district in eastern rural Aleppo," Lister said.

"Turkey is primed to get back involved," he said. "When Turkey has gone all out on the SDF, the SDF haven’t stood a chance."

According to Lister, only pressure from the highest level could alter the trajectory.

"The only thing that’s going to change the equation here is if President Trump makes it publicly clear that this deal has to be made and implemented expeditiously," he said.

"This is not contained," Lister warned. "All the preparations are clearly being made for this to become an active military zone unless serious diplomacy pulls both sides off the brink."

A statement issued by the U.S. Mission of the Syrian Democratic Council accused Syria’s transitional authorities of targeting Kurdish areas in Aleppo and undermining the political process. "What is happening now is not merely a military escalation by the Damascus authorities," the statement said. "It is an effort to undermine the prospects of building a new Syria."

The council said Syrian forces were taking control of Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo "through force, intimidation, and coercion," and warned that the escalation could destabilize the region. The group also warned that continued fighting could benefit extremist groups.

"The primary beneficiary of this escalation will be ISIS, allowing terrorism to re-emerge and once again threaten international peace and security," the statement said.

"We call for an immediate and independent investigation into the crimes committed against Kurds in Aleppo. We urge US decision-makers to monitor the conduct and behavior of the Damascus authorities, take the necessary measures to halt the escalation, and implement the March 10 agreement in full—without any delay or pretext whatsoever."

Reuters contributed to this report.

After the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from dozens of United Nations and other international organizations, experts say more international bodies could soon find themselves on the chopping block.

The announcement that the U.S. would exit 66 international organizations was in response to President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order calling for a review of U.S. support to "all international organizations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in reaction to the announcement that the U.S. is "rejecting an outdated model of multilateralism — one that treats the American taxpayer as the world’s underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance." Rubio warned the State Department continues to review international organizations, and that those subject to the January cuts "are by no means the only offenders."

Rubio said that the U.S. was not turning its back on the world but was looking to review the "international system," which he said, "is now overrun with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with overlapping mandates, duplicative actions, ineffective outputs and poor financial and ethical governance."

UN BLASTED FOR FUNDING COMMITTEE 'CREATED TO DESTROY THE JEWISH STATE,' DESPITE BUDGET CRISIS

Hugh Dugan, former Senior Director for International Organization Affairs at the National Security Council during President Trump's first term, told Fox News Digital that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres "always misread" the prior executive order "as a cost-cutting directive." In trying to "cut his way to growth" through the UN80 initiative, 

Dugan said that Guterres "meat-cleavered budgets, hitting bone and flesh as much as fat, but at base it was business as usual: no focus on the U.N.'s pitiful return on investment.  Instead of only cutting the bottom line, also he should have grown the top line by working smarter for new efficiencies."   

Launched in March 2025, the UN80 initiative was designed to identify inefficiencies inside the U.N. system and cut costs across an expansive bureaucracy. In response to Trump's withdrawal from U.N. entities, Guterres' spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement that the secretary general, "regrets the announcement by the White House," and stated that "assessed contributions to the United Nations' regular budget and peacekeeping budget...are a legal obligation under the U.N. Charter for all Member States, including the United States."

Brett Schaefer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital that impacted organizations external to the U.N. "don’t receive very much money," and "don’t necessarily merit U.S. funding or support." Withdrawing from those organizations is "more pruning around the margins than a fundamental reassessment of U.S. relationships with international organizations," he said.

For the 31 U.N.-affiliated groups on the list, Schaefer said that the withdrawal order is "an opportunity to signal to the U.N. where the United States would like to see consolidation or elimination of duplication, which is rather rife within the U.N. system."

RUBIO SLAMS UNRWA AS A 'SUBSIDIARY OF HAMAS,' VOWS IT WILL NOT 'PLAY ANY ROLE' IN DELIVERING AID TO GAZA

Schaefer said that withdrawing from the U.N. Population Fund and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was "very consistent with the Trump administration’s policy." Schaefer also indicated that withdrawing from the U.N. Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was a formalization of policy shift that occurred in 2018 when UNCTAD admitted "Palestinians as a full member state" and U.S. law "prohibit[ed] U.S. funding" for the organization.

Other choices, like departing from the U.N. Department for Economic and Social Affairs, "didn’t quite make sense," Schaefer said. He noted that the department is funded through the regular U.N. budget, which makes the move "more of a signal than it is really an effective policy."

Schaefer noted several organizations, including the World Meteorological Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and U.N. Development Programme, that could be subject to future cuts.

While smaller nations utilize the UNDP to administer their humanitarian donations, the U.S. does not need "a middleman" to fund non-governmental organizations and provide aid, Schaefer said. He also noted that the organization "has had a problem with corruption" that included concealing North Korean counterfeit money and providing the country with dual-use technology.

Schaefer said that the U.S. can "promote agricultural development in developing countries" through entities outside the FAO, which he said is "currently led by a Chinese national" who is "using that organization to promote Chinese policies and Chinese commercial interests in developing countries."

On Dec. 31, UNOCHA was a signatory to a memo "which was sharply critical of Israel," Schaefer said. Schaefer believes the memo constituted "a violation of their neutrality" that should result in reprimand. Schaefer said that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher "has made repeated statements echoing false accusations of Israel causing famine and hunger and other humanitarian suffering in Gaza that has since been proved to be false and without basis."

The WIPO, WMO, and FAO declined to comment about whether they might be a target of future cuts.

TRUMP PULLS US OUT OF UN-LINKED MIGRATION FORUM IN BOLD IMMIGRATION MOVE

A UNDP spokesperson said that the U.S. "has been a steadfast partner" and that the it maintains its commitment to working alongside the U.S. to "address urgent humanitarian needs, promote stability, and advance prosperity worldwide." The spokesperson noted that "UNDP projects are subject to strict oversight and accountability policies and mechanisms," with the UNDP "consistently rank[ing] amongst the most transparent organizations included in the [Aid Transparency Index.] 

According to the UNDP spokesperson, "no evidence of systematic fraud or diversion of funds was found" when concerns involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were investigated in 2006. The spokesperson said that the DPRK project "concluded in 2020. Any future engagement would require consensus from UNDP’s Executive Board and clear directives from Member States."

A UNOCHA spokesperson noted that the U.S. had just signed an agreement with UNOCHA "reinforcing our partnership."

The U.S. pledged to allocate $2 billion to UNOCHA at the end of December for global humanitarian needs.[iii] In recent years, officials previously told Fox News Digital that the U.S. had contributed between $8 and $10 billion to UNOCHA

FIRST ON FOX: The Islamic Republic of Iran may have more than eight American citizens and residents in its captivity, Fox News Digital can reveal based on information from sources outside the Trump Administration who are well-versed with Tehran’s hostage-taking policy system.

Information shows that the total number of Americans citizens and residents held hostage by the Iranian regime could exceed the open-source data listing five American hostages in Iran.

Iran’s regime arrested U.S. citizen, Kamran Hekmati, a 70-year-old from Great Neck, New York who went to Iran to visit family members last May. Iranian authorities arrested Hekmati in July 2025 and charged him with "making a trip to Israel" 13 years prior to his visit to Iran. Hekmati, a Persian Jew who was born in Iran, traveled to Israel in 2012 to attend his son’s Bar Mitzvah.

IRAN REGIME ESCALATES REPRESSION TOWARD 'NORTH KOREA-STYLE MODEL OF ISOLATION AND CONTROL'

Iran bans Iranians from traveling to the Jewish state and any relations with Israel. Tehran considers Hekmati an Iranian citizen because the regime does not recognize dual citizenship.

The regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Hekmati to four years in prison, and he is being held in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison — a complex that is reportedly used to torture political prisoners and dissidents. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) noted Hekmati has also been held at an intelligence ministry facility in Tehran. CNN reported that Hekmati suffers from bladder cancer.

The regime arrested another U.S. citizen, Afarin Mohajer, on Sept. 29, 2025 at Imam Khomeini International Airport. The human rights group, HRANA, said there was no information about the charges leveled against the Californian resident. 

According to U.S. government outlet Radio Farda that reports on Iran, Mohajer has an inoperable brain tumor and was told by "a doctor before going to prison that she does not have long to live," citing her son. She visited Iran to take care of her husband’s finances following his death, the son said. While released in December on bail, she is not allowed to leave Iran.

TRUMP TARGETED BY IRANIAN DEATH FATWAS AS WATCHDOG GROUP DEMANDS IMMEDIATE SANCTIONS RESPONSE

The authorities arrested an unnamed Iranian-American woman in December 2024. She was released from prison, but the authorities seized the passports of the dual national, and she is also barred from leaving Iran.

The former Radio Farda journalist Reza Valizadeh traveled to Iran in March 2024 to visit relatives, according to a report by United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) on American hostages held in Iran.  

The U.S. government outlet Voice of America, like Radio Farda, reports on Iran, said Valizadeh was reportedly arrested in September 2024 and charged with "collaborating with overseas-based Persian media."

The charge was later changed to "collaborating with a hostile government." UANI noted that "VOA cited sources claiming that Valizadeh was arrested for not cooperating with the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization and Iran’s intelligence ministry and for not expressing regret for his journalism."

The regime arrested Shahab Dalili, a permanent U.S. resident who lives in Virginia, in 2016.

The UANI report stated that Taghato, a Farsi-language news outlet operated by Iranians living in the U.S., posted on Twitter (now X) that the Iranian regime arrested Dalili in March 2016. He went to Iran after his father’s death. The opaque Iranian regime judicial system sentenced him to 10 years in prison for "allegedly cooperating with a hostile government."

IRAN PROTESTS PROMPT NEW TRUMP WARNING OVER DEADLY GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWNS

A U.S. State Department official told Fox News Digital that "As Secretary Rubio has said, President Trump is working to secure the release of detained Americans around the world.  The Iranian regime has a long history of unjustly and wrongfully detaining other countries’ citizens as hostages for use as political leverage. Iran should release these individuals immediately. "

The U.S. official added that "Due to security considerations with respect to ongoing cases, we do not disclose specific numbers of hostages."

Barry Rosen, a former American diplomat and survivor of the Iran hostage crisis that took place in 1979 when Islamist revolutionary students took a group of 66 Americans captive, told Fox News Digital, in the wake of the nationwide revolts against the regime, "We are in a very intractable situation right now" and expressed skepticism about bringing the hostages back under the current situation.

The nationwide strikes and demonstrations to topple the regime with respect to securing the hostage’s release "make it even more complicated," Rosen said, adding that hostage diplomacy "has always been complicated." Rosen was evetually released having spent 444 days in captivity.

"Quiet diplomacy is the best way to go, but I don’t think there is any way for quiet diplomacy right now," he said.

When discussing "quiet diplomacy," Rosen said he was "talking about dealing with the hostage situation with Iran, given all our differences on the nuclear situation between both countries. But when it comes to the uprising in Iran, we need to loudly support a democratic Iran."

IRAN ON THE BRINK AS PROTESTERS MOVE TO TAKE TWO CITIES, APPEAL TO TRUMP

Rosen, who considers Iran his second home, said, "I want to see the Iranian people do what they are doing now, so the Iranian regime implodes by itself." He said, "Support for uprisings (and protests) is the right way to go. I am fearful of any military operations that could cause chaos in the country."

Rosen co-founded the non-government organization Hostage Aid Worldwide, which provides current information on hostages held outside the U.S.

Navid Mohebbi, who worked as a Persian media analyst for the U.S. State Department's Public Affairs Bureau, wrote a booklet on "Breaking the Trend: How to Combat the Hostage-Taking Business in Iran" for the U.S.-based National Union for Democracy in Iran.

He told Fox News Digital, "Iran’s hostage-taking is not a series of isolated cases; it is a systematic state policy designed to extract political and economic concessions. The Islamic Republic has learned that detaining Americans and other Western nationals carries little cost and often produces tangible rewards — whether sanctions relief, access to frozen assets or asymmetric prisoner swaps. As long as this behavior is treated as a humanitarian problem rather than a coercive strategy, Tehran will continue to rely on hostage-taking as a core tool of statecraft."

He continued, "To reverse this pattern, the United States must impose consequences that are measurable, cumulative and irreversible. Every hostage-taking case should trigger automatic penalties: targeted sanctions on judges, prosecutors, interrogators, prison officials and intelligence officers involved; permanent confiscation — not escrow — of regime assets tied to hostage diplomacy; and coordinated diplomatic consequences with allies, including travel bans, removal of regime officials from international bodies and the pursuit of Interpol red notices where applicable. The message must be unambiguous: hostage-taking will leave the regime worse off, not better."

Mohebbi urged that, "The U.S. should formally designate Iran as a state that engages in hostage-taking, ban the use of U.S. passports for travel to or through Iran and maintain a public registry of regime officials involved in these crimes. At the same time, Washington must provide stronger, more transparent support to families of hostages and ensure sustained public naming and shaming. Only by raising the cost across legal, diplomatic, financial and reputational fronts can the United States begin to dismantle Iran’s hostage-taking business," he said.