U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Iran has been designated a “state sponsor of unlawful detention.”

“When the Iranian regime seized power 47 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated his control by approving the hostage-taking of U.S. Embassy staff. For decades, Iran has continued to arbitrarily detain innocent Americans as well as citizens of other countries in order to use them as political leverage against other states. This abhorrent practice must come to an end,” the statement by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

According to him, last fall U.S. President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order to protect U.S. citizens from wrongful detention abroad, and Congress subsequently passed the Countering Unlawful Detention Act of 2025, authorizing the Department to designate Iran as a “state sponsor of unlawful detention.”

“If Iran does not stop, we will be forced to consider additional measures, including possible geographic travel restrictions on the use of U.S. passports for travel to, through, or from Iran. The Iranian regime must end hostage-taking and release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran — steps that could end this designation and the actions associated with it. We urge it to do so. No American should travel to Iran for any reason. We again call on Americans currently in Iran to leave the country immediately,” Rubio concluded.