Taliban Releases US Citizen Amir Amiri After Months of Detention in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Taliban government announced on Sunday the release of an American citizen named Amir Amiri, just one week after freeing an elderly British couple from detention.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed that Amiri was handed over to Adam Boehler, Washington's special envoy on hostages, who had visited Kabul earlier this month to discuss potential prisoner exchanges with Taliban authorities.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released an American citizen named Amir Amiri from prison today," stated the Foreign Ministry on social media platform X, using the Taliban's official name for their government.

The ministry further emphasized, "The Afghan government does not view the issues of citizens from a political angle and makes it clear that ways can be found to resolve issues through diplomacy."

Few details about Amiri's case have been publicly reported. According to an official familiar with the situation, the 36-year-old "had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024." The official added that Amiri would make a brief stop in Doha, Qatar for medical evaluation before continuing his journey back to the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Amiri's release, stating that he had been "wrongfully detained" in Afghanistan. Rubio expressed gratitude to Qatar for facilitating the release and reiterated President Donald Trump's commitment: "We will not stop until every American unjustly detained abroad is back home."

This release follows a pattern of recent prisoner exchanges. In January, two Americans were freed in exchange for an Afghan fighter named Khan Mohammed, who had been convicted of narco-terrorism in the United States. Another American citizen, airline mechanic George Glezmann, was released in March after more than two years in detention, following Boehler's visit to Kabul.

At least one other US citizen, Mahmood Habibi, remains in custody in Afghanistan. The United States is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his whereabouts, though Taliban authorities deny involvement in his 2022 disappearance.

Just a week prior to Amiri's release, British nationals Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, were freed from a Kabul prison after almost eight months in detention. According to UN experts, the couple had initially been held in a maximum security facility, "then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred" to intelligence services in Kabul.

The Reynolds, who married in Kabul in 1970 and became Afghan citizens, had spent nearly two decades living in Afghanistan managing educational programs for women and children. The Taliban authorities have not disclosed the reasons for their detention.

Qatar has played a crucial mediating role in all these releases. Both the United States and the United Kingdom, along with many Western nations, continue to warn against all travel to Afghanistan.

Russia stands alone as the only country to have officially recognized the Taliban government, which has implemented strict interpretations of Islamic law and faced accusations of widespread human rights violations.

Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, when most embassies withdrew their diplomatic presence. Despite this, the Taliban government has expressed its desire to establish good relations with other countries, particularly the United States, notwithstanding their 20-year conflict with US-led forces.