USA
14 August 2025
Op Ed in Swedish Daily newspaper, Sydsvenskan, by Jason Ian Poblete, a US attorney and chair of the Global Liberty Alliance and Legal Defense Fund.
“If states fail to protect their citizens, the door opens to more hostage-takings.” That’s not just a headline. It’s a reality unfolding in too many places, including NATO member states. The piece makes the case for governments, especially those whose nationals are wrongfully detained, to work these cases around the clock and in lockstep with allies—not on the clock of the detaining state.
When we travel internationally for family or business, being held hostage by a foreign government is rarely on our minds. Yet it happens. What should our government do—or not do—when it does? This question has tested several American administrations and Congress for more than a decade.
There are laws in place, but gaps remain in follow-through and coordination with allies. The situation is even more troubling when allies, including NATO members, fail to act—or worse, when they engage in wrongful detention themselves.
The Sydsvenskan article focuses on the imminent danger facing Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian academic on Iran’s death row since 2017, who is used as a bargaining chip in hostage diplomacy. It also draws attention to Jamshid “Jimmy” Sharmahd, a German-Iranian legally resident in California who was executed in October 2024 despite global appeals, and to Shahab Dalili, a Virginia resident wrongfully imprisoned in Iran for years.
These are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate pattern, one that demands transparent, coordinated action from allied governments…”
You can read the full article in English or Swedish in the links below:
Read the full article on Substack (English)
Read the original article in Sydsvenskan (Swedish)
Follow Jason Ian Poblete on Substack
The article was also published in Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar, Helsingborgs Dagblad and Landskrona-Posten, Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar, plus mentioned in Dagens Samhälle.
