World
Family of third American held by Taliban calls for his immediate release: 'We are concerned'
U.S. citizen Mahmood Habibi ended his second year of detention in Afghanistan, as his Taliban captors continued to deny they hold him prisoner. Earlier this month, and for the first time, the State Department verbally countered the Taliban’s narrative that only two American citizens are in their custody.
Responding to questions sent by Fox News Digital, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in an Aug. 8 press conference that the State Department is “deeply concerned about the well-being of Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan,” naming Habibi as well as George Glezmann and Ryan Corbett.
In his press briefing, Miller explained that Glezmann and Corbett have been classified as “wrongfully detained,” while Habibi is considered “unjustly detained.” “We can’t make a wrongful determination because we don’t have access to certain types of information or because the situation is unclear,” Miller explained.
On Aug. 10, the FBI released a statement that they too are “seeking information into the disappearance” of Habibi.
AMERICAN NEARING 600 DAYS IN TALIBAN CAPTIVITY AS WIFE PLEADS WITH BIDEN OFFICIALS FOR HELP
Mahmood Habibi poses for a photo with his young daughter in Qatar in June 2022, two months prior to his arrest by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence. (Ahmad Habibi)
Habibi’s brother, Ahmad Shah Habibi, talked to Fox News Digital about the circumstances surrounding Mahmood’s detention. He said Mahmood traveled to Afghanistan in August 2022 for his position with Fairfax, Virginia-based ARX Communications because the Taliban had “welcomed” Afghans to return to the country and work for the future of Afghanistan.
The welcome was short-lived. On Aug. 10, the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence arrested Habibi and 29 of his colleagues, asking them whether they had information about the July 30 drone strike in Kabul that killed al Qaeda senior leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. All but two ARX Communications personnel were later released.
Taliban fighters on patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Ahmad firmly denies that his brother was involved in the strike on Zawahiri. He believes that the Taliban detained his brother because Mahmood was the deputy minister of the Civil Aviation Authority for the former Afghan government, and is a U.S. citizen. Mahmood gained citizenship in 2021.
Because the Taliban do not publicly acknowledge Mahmood’s detention, he is not allowed to call family or receive wellness checks from international diplomats. Ahmad said individuals inside Afghanistan told the family that Mahmood is alive, but he was reticent to provide further details about the source of this information. “We are concerned. I am not sure about his current condition or how he is doing,” Ahmad said.
FORMER AFGHAN PROSECUTORS HUNTED DOWN, KILLED BY TALIBAN 3 YEARS AFTER US WITHDRAWAL
As former deputy minister of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, American citizen Mahmood Habibi was a staunch advocate for his country of birth before his arrest by the Taliban on Aug. 10, 2022. (Ahmad Habibi)
Ryan Corbett, also arrested Aug. 10, 2022, and George Glezmann, arrested Dec. 5, 2022, have suffered in Taliban custody. A Senate Resolution calling for Glezmann’s immediate release states that he experiences “facial tumors, hypertension, severe malnutrition, and other medical conditions,” and is facing rapid decline in his physical and mental health. A House resolution calling for Corbett’s immediate release states that he has been held in a basement cell with little access to sunlight, is fed scraps of fatty meat, and now experiences “seizures, fainting, and discolored extremities.”
Unlike Habibi, Corbett and Glezmann have had sporadic access to wellness checks from Qatari diplomats, and are occasionally allowed to call their families.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid first acknowledged that the Taliban held two Americans in their prisons in March 2024, according Voice of America. Mujahid reiterated the message in July at the conclusion of controversial meetings in Doha between Taliban representatives and international leaders. Mujahid mentioned that the Taliban “also have prisoners in America, prisoners in Guantánamo. We should free our prisoners in exchange for them.”
NO AFGHAN WOMEN ALLOWED TO ATTEND UN-LED MEETINGS WITH TALIBAN; ‘CAVING TO TERRORIST DEMANDS’
Three unnamed senior Taliban leaders indicated to CBS News in July that they would consider trading three American prisoners held in Afghanistan for Guantánamo Bay detainee Muhammad Rahim and two Afghans charged with drug-related offenses in U.S. prisons. By August, two officials “changed their previous statements,” claiming that only two American prisoners were held, while the third “denied the [Taliban] held Habibi at all.”
Last week, Mujahid told Ariana News that the Taliban hold just two Americans “found guilty in Afghanistan for violating Afghan laws,” and said “we don’t have anyone named Habibi in our prisons.” Ariana News has likely become a mouthpiece for the Taliban since their return to power.
U.S. Army military police escort a detainee to his cell on Jan. 11, 2001, in Camp X-Ray at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Getty Images)
Rahim is the final Afghan detainee in Guantánamo Bay, according to Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the FDD’s Long War Journal. Roggio told Fox News Digital that the al Qaeda facilitator is “as nasty as they come.”
Roggio provided a Guantánamo Bay detainee report on Rahim from March 2016 that confirmed the prisoner has “become even more deeply committed to the group’s jihadist doctrine and Islamic extremism” in prison. Rahim reportedly “continues to view the U.S. and the West as enemies, has expressed support for and praised attacks by other terrorist groups, and has said he intends to return to jihad and kill Americans.”
Citing the Director of National Intelligence, Fox News reported in December that about 27% of released Guantánamo detainees “have returned to the battlefield.”
AFGHAN DIPLOMAT SHUNS TALIBAN RULE BY REFUSING TO LEAVE POST, CALLS ON WEST TO ‘MOBILIZE’ AGAINST ABUSES
Ahmad Habibi advocates for his brother at the office of Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who sponsored a resolution calling for Mahmood Habibi’s release from Taliban custody on March 7, 2024. (Ahmad Habibi)
Fox News Digital reached out to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, head of the Taliban political office in Doha Suhail Shaheen, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi for information about Habibi’s case. Shaheen said he was not aware of Habibi’s case. Balkhi and Mujahid did not respond to questions about Habibi, or about which Afghans the Taliban seeks to exchange for American captives.
In their efforts to advocate for Mahmood, Ahmad says his family has met with the State Department and White House, as well as senators and representatives from California, Virginia and New Jersey. Ahmad reports that they are all “working hard to bring [Mahmood] home.”
Ahmad noted that his brother’s arrest has impacted his entire family, including his elderly parents and Mahmood’s wife, Zulhija, who was a doctor in Afghanistan. Because of the stress of advocating for Mahmood and caring for their young daughter, Zulhija has been forced to put aside studying for the medical boards that will let her practice in the U.S.
“Mahmood is in detention, but the family is like they’re all detained,” Ahmad explained.
Updated:
Iran outmanoeuvred US President Donald Trump “like a violin” in negotiations, walking away with far better terms after sensing his desperation for a deal to end the war, former National Security Adviser John Bolton told Euronews.
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TEL AVIV, Israel: Reactions in Israel to the Memorandum of Understanding reached by President Donald Trump and Iran on Sunday have been a mix of wait-and-see-the details and outright criticism.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed on Sunday that Tehran and Washington had finalized a memorandum of understanding ending the war after months of negotiations. In a statement, the council said all military operations across multiple fronts, including in Lebanon, would cease “immediately and permanently.”
Talks on a comprehensive final agreement will reportedly begin only after both sides have implemented their obligations under the framework and are expected to continue for up to 60 days.
On Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation, saying he had spent decades fighting Iran’s efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon. “I can define it as the mission of my life,” he said. “I stood by it until now, and I will stand by it in the future. With or without a deal, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
TRUMP ANNOUNCES PEACE DEAL WITH IRAN, DECLARES STRAIT OF HORMUZ WILL REOPEN: ‘LET THE OIL FLOW!’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to reporters during a press conference on the U.S-Iran deal on June 15, 2026. (Israel Government Press Office)
He continued, “Not today and not tomorrow. As long as I am the prime minister of Israel, it will not happen.”
Responding to reporters’ questions, Netanyahu acknowledged that he was not familiar with the exact details of the memorandum of understanding reached between the Trump administration and the Iranian regime but lauded the joint U.S.-Israel operation against the regime.
Netanyahu said the campaigns had spared Israel from the threat of nuclear annihilation. “If we had not acted when we did… and with the force we demonstrated in a historic partnership with President Trump and the U.S. military, Iran would already possess atomic bombs,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier on Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz, held back from directly criticizing the deal but said that the IDF would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, warning that if Iran attacks Israel in response to the fighting against Hezbollah, “we will strike it with full force.”
He said, “The IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, without any time limit, to protect the border and Israeli communities against jihadist elements.”
IDF troops fighting Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit.)
Katz described the security zones as “among the IDF’s greatest achievements” in the multi-front war since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, adding that Israel therefore opposes an IDF withdrawal from Lebanon despite all the pressures that will still come.
Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had conveyed these positions to U.S. President Donald Trump and other senior American officials, including U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
“We will not compromise on Israel’s security interests and the protection of our citizens,” he concluded.
IRAN’S REGIME SPINS NUCLEAR AND STRAIT OF HORMUZ DEAL WITH TRUMP AS VICTORY OVER US, ISRAEL
President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Iran following an Israeli strike in Tehran on Feb. 28, 2026. (@WhiteHouse/X)
Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and former chief of the research division in the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate, told Fox News Digital that the details of the agreement remain sketchy.
“There was a debate within the Iranian leadership over whether to accept the deal,” he said. “It appears that the information we are hearing is coming from those who opposed it. Maybe they are right, maybe they are wrong, but it raises major concerns in Israel. If this is the deal, it is a disaster. If one listens to President Trump, the deal is probably something different.”
Kuperwasser defined a “good deal” as one in which Iran gives up all components of its nuclear program, grants access to enriched uranium and establishes a robust monitoring system capable of reaching anywhere at any time, including military facilities likely being used for atomic purposes. He added that such an agreement should also prohibit production of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting an area in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight on March 10 to 11, 2026. (Fadel itani / AFP via Getty Images)
“Lebanon’s fate is a matter to be discussed between Washington, Jerusalem, and Beirut,” Kuperwasser said. “Iran is not a party to those talks and should not be according to the Lebanese government. If Lebanon is to be part of a deal with Iran, it means Tehran has a say in Lebanese matters.”
Kuperwasser noted that Israel has lived under the shadow of Iran’s nuclear program since 1998, while noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is uniquely positioned to assess the issue given his decades of involvement. He said it remains unclear whether Netanyahu is satisfied with the outcome or what his final assessment will be.
ISRAELI OFFICIALS REPORTEDLY WARN IRAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILES COULD TRIGGER SOLO MILITARY ACTION AGAINST TEHRAN
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, now leader of the opposition, referred Fox News Digital to his comments on X.
“The emerging agreement achieves none of Israel’s war goals. The regime survives, the missile program exists, and Iran can rebuild its nuclear program. This is a complete failure by Netanyahu, and in the process, he is turning us into a client state that takes orders about its national security,” he wrote.
A motorist rides past a banner featuring images of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei along a street in Tehran on April 15, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
On March 19, Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined three war objectives for the U.S.-Israel joint operation against Iran: “One, removing the nuclear threat. Second, removing the ballistic missile threat and removing both of these threats before they’re buried deep underground and become immune from aerial attack. And third, this means creating the conditions for the Iranian people to grasp their freedom, to control their destiny,” the premier stated at the time.
Dr Meir Javedanfar, Iran lecturer at Reichman University, told Fox News Digital that Israel’s most immediate concern regarding the deal is the clause dealing with Lebanon.
“There is genuine concern that this could tie Israel’s hands,” he said. “An additional concern is that Hezbollah could use this clause to regroup and strengthen its armed forces and positions along the border with Israel.”
LETHAL ELITE ‘BLACK-CLAD’ KILL SQUAD GUARDS IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI
Javedanfar said it is too early to assess whether the deal would leave Israel in a significantly stronger position than the 2015 Obama-era nuclear agreement, citing the fate of Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium and its atomic infrastructure.
“Will Iran be allowed to continue enriching uranium on its soil? If yes, at what percentage? And how will the international community oversee Iran’s nuclear program? What kind of inspection program will they have? How intrusive will they be?” he added.
The Israel Defense Forces said its troops located and destroyed a Hezbollah underground command center with infrastructure about 8 meters below ground in South Lebanon. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday insisted that the MOU does not bind the Jewish state. “Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation,” he tweeted, adding that Jerusalem’s duty is to its citizens, its soldiers and the Jewish people.”
He stated, “My position is clear: we are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security, and it does not bind us in any way,” he said, adding that while Israelis “love” the United States and “are grateful” to Trump, “the State of Israel is not a banana republic.”
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On Friday, Netanyahu’s office stated that “Even though Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding, the Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”
President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 29, 2025, to discuss Iran tensions and the Gaza peace plan. (Israel Government Press Office)
Quoting the prime minister, the statement added that “As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel – Iran will not have nuclear weapons. President Trump and I are in full agreement on this issue. For over 30 years, I have been at the forefront of the international struggle against Iran’s nuclear program. Were it not for this struggle, Iran would have long ago possessed atomic bombs to destroy Israel. Iran is working to destroy the Jewish state, and I am dedicating my life to preventing them from doing so. As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel, this will not happen.”
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