Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian academic abducted in Baghdad in March 2023, was freed this week in what Iran’s Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim described as a prisoner exchange.
Tasnim reported on Thursday that Tsurkov was freed in exchange for two members of the “resistance,” a term used in Tehran to refer to allied armed groups. The agency’s Baghdad correspondent said one of those released was Imad Amehz, a Lebanese national who was seized by Israeli commandos in northern Lebanon last year.
Earlier Iraqi media had reported that Tsurkov was freed by security forces, without mentioning a swap. Neither Baghdad nor Washington has confirmed Tasnim’s account.
Tsurkov, a Princeton University PhD student and fellow at the New Lines Institute, disappeared in March 2023 while conducting field research in Baghdad. She was believed to have been held by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite militia accused of involvement in abductions and attacks on US and Israeli interests in Iraq.
The group denied responsibility, but an Iraqi official told Israel’s Channel 11 last year that Tsurkov was initially detained by Iraq’s intelligence service — or by individuals posing as its officers — before being transferred to Kata’ib Hezbollah.
Trump announces release
US President Donald Trump announced Tsurkov’s release on Tuesday, saying she was now “safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months.” Her sister Emma confirmed the news and thanked the Trump administration for its efforts, noting her release came after 903 days in captivity.
Tsurkov’s fate drew wide international attention during her more than two years in captivity.
The rights group said more than 800 people had been executed in 2025 so far, nearly double the pace of last year, and warned that thousands more remain under investigation or prosecution on capital charges, including drug-related offences and accusations of espionage.
Since the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, Amnesty said, Iranian authorities have “weaponized the death penalty as a tool of oppression”.
In June, following Israel’s airstrikes and a 12-day war with Iran, officials intensified calls for swift trials and executions for those accused of collaborating with Israel. Parliament has also advanced legislation to expand the use of capital punishment, pending approval by the Guardian Council.
“The authorities are carrying out executions on a horrific scale,” Amnesty said, urging Tehran to halt all planned executions, quash existing sentences, and declare an official moratorium with a view to abolition.
According to the UN Office for Human Rights, at least 841 executions were carried out between January and late August, compared with 429 during the same period in 2024.
Rights monitors say executions are disproportionately affecting minorities, including Afghans, Baluchis and Kurds.
The warning comes days after Iran executed protester Mehran Bahramian in Isfahan despite allegations of torture and international appeals to halt his sentence. He was the latest detainee from the 2022 unrest to be put to death on charges of “enmity against God.”
Iran’s judiciary has defended its use of capital punishment as enforcement of Islamic law and a deterrent against serious crime, particularly drug trafficking.
But rights groups argue Revolutionary Courts lack independence and routinely deny defendants fair trial rights, including access to lawyers and protection from torture.
Amnesty said rhetoric from senior officials, including Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, calling for “1988-style executions” against perceived collaborators, has fueled fears of mass killings reminiscent of past prison massacres.
“Iran accounted for nearly two-thirds of all known executions worldwide in 2024,” Amnesty said. “The current trajectory shows an even darker year ahead unless immediate action is taken.”