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June 4, 2026 / 11:52 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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In a recorded phone call from inside Iran's Evin Prison, Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh made a plea to the U.S. government to obtain medical help for him and other Americans detained in Tehran's notorious prison."Even if treating our diseases is a big demand, it would have at least asked the Iranian authorities to reduce not all the physical pressure and mental torture against us in captivity, but at least some of it," Valizadeh said in the recording recently obtained by CBS News.Since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran three months ago, the country has been under a near-total internet blackout, imposed by the regime, with little to no communication between the detained American and his advocates. Valizadeh's message was transmitted after the regime loosened those restrictions last week.In the two-minute recording, Valizadeh referred to three other Americans also held at Evin Prison. He said the four are suffering from "various diseases and are deprived from real medical services." CBS News has not been able to independently confirm details regarding the three other Americans Valizadeh mentioned in the recording. Valizadeh's lawyer, Ryan Fayhee, told CBS News that ever since the fires caused by a controversial Israeli airstrike on Evin Prison last June, Valizadeh has had a hard time speaking without coughing. He also suffers from persistent back pain and dental issues."He's survived an airstrike on the prison, he survived the prison itself, you know, the indignity of being held. As for being a journalist, he doesn't have much to lose here in reaching out and communicating with me and asking me, directing me, in fact, as his lawyer, to share his words with the American public," Fayhee told CBS News.
