Overview
- Hekmati’s family says Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified them Monday that the State Department now considers the Long Island resident wrongfully detained.
- The move places his case with the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and activates authorities under the Robert Levinson Act.
- Hekmati, 61, is serving a two‑year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison over a trip to Israel 13 years earlier, which relatives say should fall outside Iran’s 10‑year travel ban.
- Family and advocates reject additional Iranian allegations of Mossad contacts and stress urgent health needs, noting he is a bladder cancer survivor requiring ongoing care.
- The step follows bipartisan advocacy by Reps. Tom Suozzi and Claudia Tenney and Rubio’s Feb. 27 label of Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, with advocates counting roughly half a dozen U.S. detainees in Iran, including journalist Reza Valizadeh.