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As protests grip Iran, fears grow for a Jewish New Yorker held prisoner there
As Iran is gripped by its most intense wave of protests in years, concern is mounting over the fate of Americans imprisoned by the Islamic Republic — particularly Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian Jewish man from Great Neck, New York, who was sentenced to two years in prison while traveling to Iran for business. His crime was traveling to Israel 13 years ago for his son’s bar mitzvah.
Hekmati, 70, suffers from aggressive bladder cancer and is currently being held at the Evin prison in Iran, which is notorious for its particularly harsh conditions. Hekmati, a father and husband, is a jeweler and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the village of Great Neck Estates. He was born in Iran, moved to the United States over 55 years ago, and holds dual Iranian and American citizenship. Prior to his arrest, Hekmati had reportedly traveled to Iran about three times a year without issue.
Barry Rosen, a Jew and former U.S. diplomat who was held hostage in the U.S. embassy in Iran for 444 days, said there are currently about eight Americans wrongfully imprisoned in Iran. Hekmati is the only Jewish captive.
Amid the current unrest in Iran, Rosen, a founding member of Hostage Aid Worldwide, said his organization is facing major challenges “getting information out about what is happening to the hostages.” “Right now,” he said, “the captives are not the most important issue in Iran for the State Department” or other organizations that could help.
Despite those challenges, Rosen said the current moment could present a rare opportunity to see American prisoners like Hekmati freed, as the United States comes to the negotiating table with significant leverage amid President Donald Trump’s threats to involve the U.S. militarily.
“There could possibly be a deal,” Rosen said, “but there has to be three or four prongs to this situation.” Any agreement, he added, would necessarily involve not only freeing American prisoners, but also restrictions on key security issues like Iranian nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile production.
That leverage comes against the backdrop of heightened regional conflict following the war between Israel and Iran this summer. Community members in Great Neck say Hekmati was captured by Iranian authorities around the time of the Twelve-Day War. “The regime wants to use him as an example of Israel’s use of Iran’s Jewish population as ‘Israeli’ infiltrators,” Rosen said.
Fear and hope among Great Neck’s Persian community
News of Hekmati’s imprisonment reverberated through his hometown of Great Neck, which has a significant Iranian population that is largely Jewish, and where nearly half of all households include a Jewish resident.
For Elizabeth Shirian, who was aware of Hekmati’s frequent travel to Iran, the news was both frightening and grimly unsurprising. About 10 years ago, while on a family trip to Istanbul, she ran into Hekmati at a restaurant as he was on his way to Iran. Even then, she said, “We thought, ‘Wow, he’s such a risk taker.’”
Shirian said her uncle was taken prisoner around the time of the Islamic Revolution in Iran for his alleged connection to Israel and was released after about a year. As unrest in Iran grows, she said her concern for Hekmati has only intensified. “Being a Jew imprisoned in the Islamic Republic of Iran is not something that typically ends well,” she said. “And now I think they’re even more ruthless than they were back then.”
Another community member, Ebby Victory, said Hekmati’s imprisonment has erased any lingering sense of normalcy for Iranians in Great Neck who had continued traveling to Iran prior to his arrest. “His situation has definitely made people more cautious about going back to the country,” Victory said.
The case has also drawn attention from elected officials representing the area. “When Mr. Hekmati was unjustly imprisoned in Iran late last year, I immediately reached out to Secretary Rubio and urged him to take swift action,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose district includes Great Neck, said in a statement to the Forward. My staff will be receiving an updated briefing from the State Department on Mr. Hekmati’s status in the coming days,” he said. Rep. Suozzi added that he will “continue to both work for his release and stand with courageous Iranian protestors.”
Amid protests, Jews in Iran retreat from public life
Rosen said Hekmati’s imprisonment reflects the increasingly precarious position of Iran’s Jewish community during moments of national crisis. “The Jewish community in Iran is playing a very tough balancing act,” Rosen said. “The balancing act is, ‘I’m Jewish and I’m not pro-Israeli.’” This distinction becomes even more critical during moments of upheaval. “The Jewish community knows that they have to be very, very careful in what they say and do right now,” said Rosen.
According to Rosen, between 20 and 30 Jewish Iranians have been taken prisoner in Iran since the Twelve-Day War, most accused of working with the Mossad or Israel. That number is significantly higher than anything he has seen from the regime in many years. Since the war, Rosen said, the situation for Jews in Iran has grown deeply precarious, and the protests have only intensified that reality.
“From what I gather, they’re not out,” Rosen said. “They just are not congregating anywhere, because they don’t want to get caught up in a situation where they might get arrested for some demonstration.”
For Iran’s Jewish community, Rosen said, the overriding priority remains survival. “It’s a vise that they’re in right now,” he said. “How do you survive in this situation?”
The post As protests grip Iran, fears grow for a Jewish New Yorker held prisoner there appeared first on The Forward.
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Trump Safe After Being Rushed from White House Correspondents Dinner, Shooter in Custody
U.S. President Donald Trump is escorted out as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026, in this screen capture from video. REUTERS/Bo Erickson
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man armed with a shotgun tried to breach security, officials said.
A man armed with a shotgun fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told Reuters. The agent was hit in an area covered by protective gear and not harmed, the official said.
All federal officials, including Trump, were safe. About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on Truth Social that a “shooter had been apprehended.”
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump added.
Shortly afterwards, he posted, “The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition.” He said he would be holding a White House press conference on Saturday night.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the service was investigating a shooting near the main screening area at the entrance to the event.
After the sound of shots, dinner attendees immediately stopped talking and people started screaming “Get down, get down!”
Hundreds of guests dove under the tables as Secret Service officers in combat gear ran into the dining room. Trump and the first lady had bent down behind the dais before being hustled out by Secret Service officers.
Many of the 2,600 attendees took cover while waiters fled to the front of the dining hall.
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Trump Cancels Envoys’ Pakistan Trip, in Blow to Hopes for Iran War Breakthrough
US President Donald Trump speaks on the day he honors reigning Major League Soccer (MLS) champion Inter Miami CF players and team officials with an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump canceled a trip by two US envoys to Iran war mediator Pakistan on Saturday, dealing a new setback to peace prospects after Iran’s foreign minister departed Islamabad after speaking only to Pakistani officials.
While peace talks failed to materialize Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “forcefully” attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, his office said, further testing a three-week ceasefire.
Trump told reporters in Florida that he decided to call off the planned visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner because the talks in Islamabad involved too much travel and expense, and Iran’s latest peace offer was not good enough for him.
Before boarding Air Force One on Saturday for a return flight to Washington, Trump said Iran had improved an offer to resolve the conflict after he canceled the visit, “but not enough.”
In a social media post, Trump also wrote there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.
“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” he posted on Truth Social.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi earlier left the Pakistani capital without any sign of a breakthrough in talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials.
Araqchi later described his visit to Pakistan as “very fruitful,” adding in a social media post that he had “shared Iran’s position concerning (a) workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy”.
Iranian media reported that Araqchi had flown to Oman’s capital Muscat, saying he will meet with senior officials to “discuss and exchange views on bilateral relations and regional developments”.
Sharif wrote in a post on X that he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the regional security situation and told him that Pakistan was committed to serving “as an honest and sincere facilitator — working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability.”
Tehran has ruled out a new round of direct talks with the United States and an Iranian diplomatic source said his country would not accept Washington’s “maximalist demands.”
IRAN AND US AT AN IMPASSE
Washington and Tehran are at an impasse as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, while the US blocks Iran’s oil exports.
The conflict, in which a ceasefire is in force, began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has since carried out strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, and the war has pushed up energy prices to multi-year highs, stoking inflation and darkening global growth prospects.
Araqchi “explained our country’s principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against Iran,” said a statement on the minister’s official Telegram account.
Asked about Tehran’s reservations over US positions in the talks, an Iranian diplomatic source in Islamabad told Reuters: “Principally, Iranian side will not accept maximalist demands.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said the US had seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come over the weekend, while Vice President JD Vance was ready to travel to Pakistan as well.
Vance led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran in Islamabad earlier this month.
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Hezbollah Says Ceasefire ‘Meaningless’ as Fighting Continues in South
Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in a village in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army operates in it as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ayal Margolin
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said a US-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.
US President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday.
While the ceasefire has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone.”
Responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.
“Every Israeli attack… gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response,” he added.
Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement, and has strongly objected to Lebanon’s face-to-face contacts with Israel.
BUFFER ZONE
The April 16 agreement does not require Israeli troops to withdraw from the belt of southern Lebanon seized during the war. The zone extends 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon.
Israel says the buffer zone aims to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the war.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese health ministry says.
ISRAELI MILITARY WARNS RESIDENTS TO LEAVE TOWN
Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed two people in the southern village of Touline on Friday.
Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone, the group and the Israeli military said. Hezbollah identified it as a Hermes 450 and said it had downed it with a surface-to-air missile.
An Israeli drone was heard circling above Beirut throughout the day on Friday, Reuters reporters said.
The Israeli military warned residents of the southern town of Deir Aames to leave their homes immediately, saying it planned to act against “Hezbollah activities” there.
Deir Aames is located north of the area occupied by Israeli forces, and it was the first time Israel had issued such a warning since the ceasefire came into force on April 16. Posted on social media, the Israeli warning gave no details of the activities it said Hezbollah was conducting in the town.
The Israeli military also said it had intercepted a drone prior to its crossing into Israeli territory, and that sirens were sounded in line with protocol.
WAR-WEARY RESIDENTS SEEK END TO FIGHTING
The continued fighting has angered war-weary Lebanese, who say they want to see a genuine ceasefire put a full halt to violence.
“What’s this? Is this called a ceasefire? Or is this mocking (people’s) intelligence?” said Naem Saleh, a 73-year-old owner of a newsstand in Beirut.
Residents of northern Israel had mostly returned to daily life, but expressed pessimism about the longevity of the ceasefire with Lebanon.
“I believe that the ceasefire is so fragile, and unfortunately it won’t stand long, in my opinion,” said Eliad Eini, a resident of Nahariya, which lies just 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the south, including a journalist.
Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, in his opening remarks at Thursday’s talks, said “Lebanon should acknowledge the temporary presence of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the right of Israel to defend itself from a hostile force that is firing on the population.”
Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Moawad, in a written statement sent to Reuters, called for the ceasefire to be fully respected and said it would allow the necessary conditions for meaningful negotiations.
Lebanon has said it aims to secure the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from its territory in broader talks with Israel at a later stage.
Trump said on Thursday that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future, and said there was “a great chance” the two countries would reach a peace agreement this year.
Hezbollah attacks killed two civilians in Israel after March 2, while 15 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since then, Israel says.