Aug. 15 – Several new cases of foreign nationals detained in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been published by think tank the Washington Institute, which has suggested that at least 10 foreign and dual national citizens have been arrested since the beginning of 2025.
Of the 10 men and women listed by the institute, two of the three British individuals are Craig and Lindsey Foreman while one British individual remains unidentified. The other detainees are German-Jewish man Marek Kaufmann, French-German teenager Lennart Monterlos, four Iranian-Americans two of whom are Jewish and one of whom has been identified as Yehuda Hekmati, and one unidentified Romanian detainee. The Foremans and Mr. Kaufman are charged with espionage while the remaining prisoners are being held on undisclosed charges.
The Islamic Republic has been accused by rights bodies and western countries of arbitrarily detaining foreign and dual nationals to use as leverage in international negotiations with a number of states.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video on YouTube addressed to the Iranian people on Wednesday, urging them to fight for their freedom, following growing discontent against the regime as the country faces ongoing water, electricity and gas shortages along with soaring inflation and a worsening economic crisis.
In the video, Netanyahu promised to help the country with its water crisis by providing it with what he called cutting edge Israeli technology, once Iran was free from the current theocratic government and urged the Iranian people to carry out a “revolution” against the Islamic Republic.
Netanyahu has addressed Iranians directly on several occasions since 2024, urging the population to remove the current regime, expressing solidarity with Iranians and providing updates on its military attack, “Operation Rising Lion,” against Iran in June.
And Iranian nuclear scientists who survived Israel’s military attack against the Islamic Republic in June, have been moved to secure locations, according to a report by the Telegraph newspaper.
At least 15 leading researchers have been moved to secure villas in Tehran and are no longer lecturing at universities where they work, according to the report.
The Islamic Republic believes that Israel could still launch military offensives in Iran and has said that the conflict has not ended but currently remains paused.
