US labels Iran state sponsor of wrongful detention

The US government has designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, a new diplomatic tool used for countries that “wrongfully” detain US nationals.

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The tool was created through an executive order and legislation passed in September 2025. It is also the latest in the US effort to ramp up pressure on Iran, as tension between the two countries heightened and concern over the possibility of war continues to increase.

In a statement on Friday, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, accused Iran of unjustly detaining American nationals for political leverage.

Mr Rubio, announcing the designation, said Iran’s Islamic clerics consolidated power by endorsing the hostage taking of US embassy staff.

This is a reference to the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, when radical Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats and other staff hostage.

“Today, I am designating Iran as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. When the Iranian regime seized power 47 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated his control of power by endorsing the hostage taking of US embassy staff,” Mr Rubio said in the statement.

Mr Rubio also noted that if “Iran does not stop, we will be forced to consider additional measures, including a potential geographic travel restriction on the use of US passports to, through, or from Iran.

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“The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran, steps that could end this designation and associated actions. We encourage it to do so. No American should travel to Iran for any reason,“ he added.

He also stressed that the call for non-emergency workers and their families currently in Iran to leave immediately.

Iran has a history of detaining Americans, including holding US citizens and dual nationals for years on unproven charges, often using their imprisonment as bargaining chips.

But the designation of the country as a state sponsor of wrong detention comes amid the US threat of military aggression against the country.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that countries have begun to issue travel advisories, warning their citizens to avoid travelling to Iran, Israel and other parts of the Middle East likely to be affected in the war that might ensue should the US attack.

The US has claimed that its planned unprovoked attack was to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. Still, analysts have described that as a smokescreen, especially as President Trump, in his first term, unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal that Iran had with global powers to prevent it from having a nuclear weapon.

However, Tehran has promised to respond “decisively” to US military aggression.

On Thursday, the spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, cautioned Washington against any “unwise actions,” stating that it would trigger a response from Iran’s Armed Forces “never experienced before in history.”

Meanwhile, this is the first time this designation has been used, and Iran is the first country to be put on this blacklist. The policy is modelled in part by the state sponsor of terrorism list.

READ ALSO: US Embassy asks staff to leave Israel amid plans to attack Iran

Under the new order, Mr Rubio can impose a range of measures, including economic sanctions, export controls and visa restrictions targeting persons and entities linked to wrongful detention policies.

He can also impose travel restrictions on US passport holders, potentially limiting or prohibiting travel to countries designated as sponsors of wrongful detention.

Iran is already suffering from several US sanctions that have crippled its economy. It is unclear how any new sanctions imposed by the US government would affect anything.