INTERNACIONAL
US hostages in Iran face heightened risk as protests spread, experts say number held may exceed estimates
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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 a 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.
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A view of the entrance of Evin prison in Tehran, Iran Oct. 17, 2022. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
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.
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This frame grab from a video released Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, by Iranian state television shows a man holding a device to document burning vehicles during a night of mass protests in Zanjan, Iran. (Iranian state TV via AP)
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.»
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is pictured sitting next to a senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)
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.
Barry Rosen, one of the hostages from Iran, waves as they step off the plane in Germany, Jan. 1, 1981. The hostages were kept over a year in captivity after the U.S. Embassy was stormed during the Iranian Revolution. (Tim Chapman/Getty Images)
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 eventually 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.»
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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.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
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.»
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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.
iran,state department,world protests,terrorism
INTERNACIONAL
Zelensky reiteró a sus aliados que el armamento del ejército ruso contiene “miles de componentes” de fabricación extranjera
El presidente de Ucrania, Volodimir Zelensky, advirtió que los misiles y drones utilizados por el ejército ruso contienen “miles de componentes” de fabricación no rusa, especialmente procedentes de Europa, Estados Unidos y Japón, y pidió a estos países bloquear de manera efectiva estas cadenas de suministro.
“Todos esos misiles y drones rusos que se utilizan hoy en día contienen miles de componentes que Rusia no puede producir por sí sola. Cinco misiles Iskander-M llevan al menos 75 componentes críticos de fabricación no rusa. Tres misiles ‘Kh-101’ incluyen casi 160 componentes que Rusia no puede reemplazar por sí misma», detalló el mandatario.
A su vez, en un mensaje hacia sus aliados, remarcó: “Cada shahed (dron de fabricación iraní) tiene cientos de estos componentes exportados a Rusia desde otros países, y no solo de empresas chinas, por cierto. También de Europa, Estados Unidos y Japón”.
El mandatario instó a los aliados de Ucrania a bloquear realmente las cadenas de suministro que llevan componentes críticos a Rusia para la producción de armas, calificando esta medida de “crucial” tanto para Kiev como para la seguridad internacional.
“Las propias empresas deberían supervisar mejor el destino de sus componentes. Sin estas conexiones con el mundo, Rusia no puede hacer nada; no es capaz de ser fuerte estando completamente aislada”, aseguró.
Zelensky reiteró que “el bloqueo y la presión pueden realmente obligar al agresor a reconsiderar su política” en medio de la invasión al territorio ucraniano.
Respecto a las negociaciones en Suiza, indicó que la delegación ucraniana presentará un informe tras ronda de conversaciones en Ginebra sobre los ataques recientes en Odesa y sus consecuencias.
“El equipo debe plantear sin duda la cuestión de estos ataques, en primer lugar a la parte estadounidense, que propuso que tanto nosotros como Rusia nos abstuviéramos de atacar”, puntualizó respecto de los últimos bombardeos de Moscú a infraestructura crítica ucraniana.
El presidente subrayó que Ucrania está preparada y no necesita la guerra, y manifestó su disposición para avanzar hacia un acuerdo justo que ponga fin al conflicto bélico iniciado por Rusia en 2022. Además, adelantó que en las próximas semanas habrá nuevas negociaciones con socios internacionales y se discutirá la necesidad de que Europa produzca sus propios misiles de defensa aérea.
“La única pregunta para los rusos es: ¿qué quieren? Y también, si habrá consecuencias para Rusia por el hecho de que los shaheds, los misiles y las fantasiosas charlas sobre la historia les importan más que la diplomacia real, la diplomacia y la paz duradera»,
La jornada del martes incluyó una reunión de Ucrania con representantes de Estados Unidos, Francia, Reino Unido, Alemania, Italia y Suiza. El secretario del Consejo Nacional de Defensa ucraniano, Rustem Umerov, señaló que se coordinaron enfoques para los próximos pasos y destacó la importancia de mantener una visión común y la coordinación de acciones entre Ucrania, Estados Unidos y Europa.
Los negociadores de Ucrania y Rusia reanudarán una segunda ronda de conversaciones de paz en Ginebra este miércoles, mientras el principal enviado de Estados Unidos mostró optimismo sobre la posibilidad de poner fin al conflicto más letal en Europa desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Estas conversaciones representan el esfuerzo diplomático más reciente para frenar los combates, que causaron cientos de miles de muertes, desplazado a millones de personas y devastado amplias zonas del este y sur de Ucrania.
Los delegados de Estados Unidos mantiene su presión para lograr un acuerdo que ponga fin a casi cuatro años de guerra, aunque hasta ahora no se ha alcanzado un compromiso entre Moscú y Kiev respecto al territorio en disputa.
El enviado estadounidense Steve Witkoff, representante de la administración del presidente Donald Trump, afirmó que los esfuerzos diplomáticos del mandatario impulsaron el proceso.
“El éxito del presidente Trump al unir a ambos lados de esta guerra ha generado un progreso significativo”, escribió en X. “Ambas partes acordaron actualizar a sus respectivos líderes y continuar trabajando para llegar a un acuerdo”.
(Con información de Europa Press)
Defence,Defense,Europe
INTERNACIONAL
Inside world’s top science society’s convention bashing Trump, pushing DEI, pronouns: ‘Felt like a funeral’
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FIRST ON FOX: One of the world’s largest and most influential scientific societies held its annual conference last weekend, which a Fox News Digital review found was littered with examples of progressive messaging, criticisms of the Trump administration, and «woke» workshops.
Attendees who showed up at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) event, held at the Phoenix Convention Center from Feb. 12-14, were immediately greeted at registration with identifier stickers that used gender pronouns such as «they/them,» «xi/xer,» «xe/xem,» and other descriptors that critics have alleged have little to do with science and biology.
During the meeting’s opening night, shortly after a 10-minute hoop dance routine from traditional Native American dancers, AAAS CEO Dr. Sudip Parikh told the audience that it’s been a «hard» and «tough year for science and scientists in this country.»
Parikh went on to blame DOGE for the «devastation» of «some of our science agencies» and the «president’s budget request» that «cut science by half» and, in his opinion, amounted to «forfeiting the future.»
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The 2025 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
«What happened over the course of the last year is a rupture. We’re not going back, it’s not possible, too much damage has been done, too much has changed. There’s an entire generation of scientists that have a scar, a scar that is not going to go away,» Parikh explained, adding that scars can «make us tougher» and «become almost shields» that «build resilience.»
Parikh told the crowd that he warned last year that Robert F. Kennedy Jr was the «wrong person» for Health and Human Services secretary and said, «I still feel that way,» which prompted laughter and applause from the crowd.
«It’s going to take protests, it’s going to take politics, it’s going to take the ability to not speak gibberish, all of that has got to come together if we’re going to fight for the inheritance of the enlightenment to continue to make this world a better place,» Parikh said.
Workshops at the event, which provided gender-neutral washrooms, included a session titled «Mao-Mei Liu: Nurturing Diversity in Science is Resistance,» and another called «Investigating the Role of Race in Clinical Decision-Making.»
«Who Gets to Belong? Disability, Power, and Participation in Higher Education,» another workshop was called.
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The 2026 annual AAAS conference provided guests with an all-gender washroom and gender pronoun stickers. (Fox News Digital)
Dr. Theresa A. Maldonado, a world-renowned expert in electrical engineering, delivered the president’s address at the conference and also lamented what a difficult year 2025 was for science and suggested climate change was responsible for the devastating southern California wildfires last year.
AAAS, the publisher of the highly respected Science magazine, posted several more videos over the course of the next few days, many including speakers who criticized the Trump administration and injected politics into discussions.
«Colonial Legacies, Climate Crises, and the Erosion of Mobility Choice» was another workshop that scientists at the conference were offered and in an interview with «climate justice scholar» Jola Ajibade, she explained how climate change has benefited a «few wealthy people» while «low-income communities are displaced.»
«At the center of my work is giving a voice but also bringing to the attention of everyone the impact of a slew of climate solutions, the impact of those solutions on low-income communities, on Black communities, on indigenous, on Latino communities as well,» Ajibade explained, adding that she is focused on finding a «decolonial» approach.
Listed sponsors of the event included the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a group tied to the progressive consulting behemoth Arabella Advisors through the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit that pushes a variety of progressive causes.
«The whole thing that is sad for me is that when I attended these conferences in the first Trump administration there was plenty of liberal nonsense, but it still was a celebration of science and the achievements of the year, and you left excited,» an event attendee told Fox News Digital.
«This year felt like a funeral, with nothing but griping and moaning. Why would people want to keep coming back year after year with something like that? I suspect that is why their attendance greatly suffered this year compared to the pre-COVID years. Their constant pleas to keep politics out of science are completely undercut by their perpetual whining and endorsing utter craziness. They’re happy for science to be political, as long as it’s leftist.»
Additionally, as lawmakers in the United States continue to warn about the growing threat posed by China and what they believe is the CCP’s infiltration of top institutions in the United States — particularly in the medical and science fields — the AAAS conference opted to allow the Beijing-based research institute Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to operate a booth at the event.
The state-run Chinese academy, which has faced controversy over its ties to China’s government and military, has collaborated with a Chinese medical technology firm linked to a 2013 U.S. bribery case involving NIH-funded research. The company has also installed equipment in leading American research labs.
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Protesters are seen outside a rally held by President Donald Trump at Macomb County Community College in Warren, Michigan. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)
«The AAAS says that their organization wants to ‘inspire’ future scientists and engineers, but session topics and material from their meeting actually discourage participants from relying on their effort and merit and turns the focus to race and ethnicity,» Johnathan Butcher, acting director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
«These are the very same kind of racist ideas inspired by DEI that have been prohibited in universities, state governments, and the federal government, because the ideas violate state and federal civil rights laws,» Butcher added. «Policymakers should be aware of what this organization is doing and make sure the association is not promoting racial preferences in hiring, promotion or research awards in academia or anywhere else.»
In a statement to Fox News Digital, an AAAS spokesperson said, «A broad spectrum of the scientific enterprise attends the meeting. The topics covered were wide-ranging across scientific disciplines and are proposed by scientists. AAAS respects their First Amendment right to free speech.»
politics,science,dei
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