American Jewish man freed from Iranian prison, but is barred from returning home

61-year-old man from Great Neck, New York has been freed from Iran’s notorious Evin Prison – but is not allowed to return to the United States.

By World Israel News Staff

Jewish Iranian-American businessman Kamran Hekmati has reportedly been released from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison after more than a year in Iranian custody, but remains barred from leaving Iran and returning to his family in the United States.

Hekmati, 61, was released on Saturday, September 5, according to Iranian sources familiar with his case. Iranian authorities have not publicly confirmed the release or disclosed the conditions attached to it.

A travel ban remains in force, meaning that while Hekmati is no longer being held inside Evin Prison, he cannot return to his home in Great Neck, New York.

One report said Hekmati was released on bail following diplomatic intervention by Qatar, which had been engaged in quiet efforts involving Iranian authorities and Jewish community figures. The reported Qatari role has not been officially confirmed by either Tehran or Doha.

Hekmati, a jeweler and longtime US citizen who was born in Iran, traveled to the Islamic Republic in May 2025 to visit relatives. He had made similar trips previously without encountering problems.

Iranian authorities stopped him as he attempted to leave the country, confiscated his passport and electronic devices and subjected him to repeated interrogations.

He was arrested in July 2025 and ultimately sent to Evin Prison.

Iranian prosecutors accused Hekmati of violating the country’s prohibition on travel to Israel because he had visited the Jewish state 13 years earlier to attend his son’s bar mitzvah.

His family maintained that the charge was legally unfounded because the Iranian provision used against him applied to travel to Israel during the preceding 10 years, while Hekmati’s visit had occurred approximately three years outside that period.

His relatives said his trial lasted roughly 10 minutes and took place without a defense lawyer or witnesses.

An Iranian Revolutionary Court initially sentenced him to four years in prison. The sentence was subsequently reduced to two years.

Hekmati’s family repeatedly appealed for his release, pointing both to the circumstances of the conviction and to his health. He has been undergoing treatment for bladder cancer, raising particular concern among relatives and US officials about his detention in Evin.

His cousin, Shohreh Nowfar, previously described Hekmati as the person who held the extended family together.

“Kamran was the person who glued the family together,” Nowfar said. “He was always there for everyone, his wife, his kids, all his relatives, anyone he met in Iran.”

“It’s so ironic that the country he loved so much and tried to help has now imprisoned him,” she added.

The US government formally designated Hekmati as wrongfully detained in March, elevating his case within the State Department and placing it under the mechanisms used by Washington to seek the release of Americans regarded as political hostages.

“This designation is an official recognition by the US Government that Kamran is being held on false charges in an effort by the Iranians to leverage the US Government,” Nowfar said following the decision.

She said the designation “reassures us that our government has our back in the effort to get Kamran home safely.”

Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose New York district includes Great Neck, had pressed the Trump administration to make the designation and seek Hekmati’s release.

“This is a clear, cut-and-dry case of wrongful detention,” Suozzi said in March.

“Mr. Hekmati and the numerous other Americans being imprisoned in Iran are not being held for any crimes they committed, but because they’re Americans. In Mr. Hekmati’s case, a Jewish American.”

After the designation, Suozzi urged the administration to continue pressing for Hekmati’s return rather than treating the change in status as sufficient.

“We now need the Administration to bring him home as soon as possible,” he said. “It could not be more urgent.”

The State Department has previously accused Tehran of systematically using foreign and dual nationals as leverage in its dealings with other governments.

“The Iranian regime has a long history of unjustly and wrongfully detaining other countries’ citizens,” the department said while Hekmati remained imprisoned. “Iran should release these individuals immediately.”

Iran does not recognize dual nationality for Iranian citizens, meaning Tehran treats Iranian-Americans such as Hekmati solely as Iranian nationals while they are inside the country, sharply limiting Washington’s ability to provide normal consular assistance.

Hekmati’s case also came amid heightened pressure on Iran’s Jewish community following the June 2025 war with Israel.

Iranian authorities detained dozens of Jews during a wider security crackdown over suspected contacts with Israel. Because many Iranian Jews have relatives in Israel, rights advocates said ordinary family communications were increasingly subjected to scrutiny.

Reports in July said Qatar had begun quietly working with Tehran to secure the release of several Jewish detainees. The latest reporting that Doha helped obtain Hekmati’s release would fit within those broader efforts, though the details of any agreement remain unclear.

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