Following reports regarding the departure of Dena Karari, an Iranian-American citizen who had been barred from leaving Iran for more than a year, the judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency denied the claims surrounding the matter. Mizan reported that no “imprisoned US convict or spy” had been released or exchanged from Iranian prisons.
On Wednesday, July 15, Jason Gessner, Dena Karari’s attorney, announced that his Iranian-American client had successfully left Iran after facing a travel ban and undergoing repeated interrogations by the Ministry of Intelligence for over a year.
Hours later, the President of the United States, in a post on the Truth Social platform, described the move as a “sign of good faith” by the Islamic Republic and expressed his appreciation. Donald Trump wrote: “Iran has allowed an American woman, who had been wrongfully detained since December 2024 during Joe Biden’s presidency, to leave the country.”
According to the published information, Dena Karari was not formally jailed during her time in Iran. However, she faced allegations such as “cooperation with a hostile state” and “espionage” and was placed under a travel ban. Mizan’s denial regarding the release of an “imprisoned American” does not provide a clear response to the core report of her departure from Iran and the lifting of her travel restrictions.
