Iranian researcher, journalist, and Virginia Tech PhD candidate Yousef Azizi has spoken about his arbitrary and brutal detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an interview with local Iranian media.
Despite holding valid legal status and residing in the US for 13 years, Azizi was subjected to a pre-dawn raid on April 13 outside his Maryland home.
Speaking to Press TV on Sunday following his voluntary return to Iran, Azizi detailed a harrowing ordeal marked by baseless allegations, inhumane detention conditions, and a clear effort to silence his vocal criticism of US and Israeli foreign policy.
Azizi recounted the morning of his arrest, which occurred shortly after he dropped his children off at school. Rather than standard ICE officers, the operation was led by heavily armed FBI agents.
"There were more than ten cars assigned by the FBI. When I stepped out of my car, they had all their rifles pointed at me," Azizi said. He was subsequently handed over to ICE and taken to a detention center in Baltimore.
During his three-month detention, interrogators repeatedly pressed him on a baseless claim that he was a member of the Student Basij Organization, a branch within the IRGC-affiliated Basij Organisation for university campuses, during his first master’s degree.
Authorities attempted to weaponize the US government’s 2019 designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization, retroactively demanding he disclose this alleged affiliation from years prior.
"It is completely baseless," Azizi stated. "We had two or three court hearings, and they never showed any proof. They claimed to have 'multiple resources,' which were clearly anti-Islamic Republic propaganda outlets, but they never provided a shred of evidence."
Beyond the fabricated charges, Azizi described a grueling and deliberately punishing transfer process designed to break detainees.
Over a span of six days, he was forcibly moved from Maryland to Louisiana, then to Arizona, and finally to California.
"This is not just about me; it is the ICE process and the business model behind it, involving private contractors," Azizi explained. "When they transfer you, you are not just handcuffed; you are shackled by your legs. For 12 to 13 hours, you are in the belly of an airplane. It is horrible."
He detailed being held in a temporary, freezing detention center in Arizona with 30 other people in a small room for two nights without pillows or adequate facilities, leading to severe health deterioration among the detainees.
Azizi’s detention sparked outrage within the American academic community.
His legal team presented the immigration judge with a staggering 250 pages of support letters from professors at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Virginia Tech, and other institutions, vouching for his character and academic integrity.
However, Azizi noted that the immigration court system is heavily influenced by the Department of Justice.
Just hours before his bond hearing, the FBI submitted a flimsy, two-page memo alleging national security risks and claiming he was a "prominent member" of the Basij.
The judge, bound by administrative directives, denied his release.
Azizi believes his media presence made him a target. As a regular commentator on outlets including Press TV and Sky News, he has unapologetically criticized the Zionist lobby’s influence on US foreign policy, US military aggression against Iran, and the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
"When the US government starts a major war or national security agenda, they want to control the narrative," Azizi observed. "They pressure independent analysts to support their policies. If you don't, they attack you and put labels on you."
Family trauma and diplomatic intervention
The psychological toll on Azizi’s family was immense. He revealed that an FBI special agent threatened his wife on two occasions, attempting to use her and their young children as leverage to coerce Azizi into cooperating with US authorities.
While the local Iranian-American community and his children’s school rallied to support his family, the situation remained dire.
Azizi credited the Iranian Interests Section at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., particularly its head, Abolfazl Mehrabadi, for intervening.
Despite the immense challenges, Mehrabadi and his team traveled to detention centers across the US, advocating for thousands of detained Iranian nationals and ultimately facilitating Azizi’s swift and safe return to Iran.
A call for justice
Now back in his home country, Azizi remains steadfast in his analytical approach.
He rejected the notion that he is an ideologue, stating that his role is to objectively evaluate policies, criticizing economic hardships in Iran just as he condemns US imperialism and Israeli aggression.
Regarding his academic future, Azizi is in communication with his committee chair at Virginia Tech to defend his dissertation remotely, a procedure that has precedents post-pandemic.
However, due to US sanctions, he may need to register from a third country, such as Turkey or the UAE, to complete his degree.
Azizi’s case is not an isolated incident. It reflects a broader, alarming pattern of politically driven immigration enforcement and due process violations targeting foreign nationals, particularly Iranians, in the United States.
A growing coalition of civil rights advocates, academics, and community members has launched a petition demanding a fair review of Azizi’s case and full accountability for the arbitrary nature of his detention.
Supporters emphasize that when no clear legal violation is presented, the detention serves only as a political tool to intimidate and silence dissent.
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