Amir Amiri, an American citizen detained nine months ago in Afghanistan, was released Sunday and is on his way back to the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced.
“Today we welcome home Amir Amiry, an American who was wrongfully detained in Afghanistan,” wrote Rubio in a social media post. “I want to thank Qatar for helping secure his freedom.”
A source with knowledge of the release previously told CBS News that Qatari diplomats had coordinated with the office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs to facilitate it. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, Qatar signed an accord to represent U.S. interests in the country. Before Amiri, it had helped secure the release of four other American citizens from Afghanistan earlier this year.
Amiri was detained in December 2024. Qatar began negotiating for his release in March, at first arranging a meeting between Amiri and the U.S. Special Envoy Adam Boehler during his visit to Afghanistan, according to the source with knowledge of his release. Qatari diplomats monitored Amiri’s health and maintained close communication with U.S. officials throughout his detention, the source told CBS News.
Amir Amiri, second from left, was released Sunday, Sept. 28, after he was detained for nine months in Afghanistan. / Credit: Qatar Foreign Ministry
Negotiations persisted for several months until Qatar reached a breakthrough this weekend, which resulted in Amiri’s release, the source said.
Two American citizens were freed in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and the Taliban in January, one of whom, Ryan Corbett, had been abducted in 2022 while on a work trip. The Taliban agreed to release them from Afghanistan in exchange for Khan Mohammed, a Taliban figure who had been imprisoned for life in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, officials told the Associated Press at the time.
Another two Americans were released from Afghanistan in March. Faye Hall, who had been detained earlier in the year on charges of using an unauthorized drone, was arrested with a British couple who remained in Taliban custody, sources told CBS News after Hall’s release. The British couple, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, were freed earlier this month. Separately, AmericanĀ George Glezmann was also freed in March after being detained during a tourist visit to Afghanistan in 2022, in a move that the former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan called “a goodwill gesture” to President Trump by the Taliban.
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