Two pro-Iranian militants were released in Iraq in a prisoner exchange that secured the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli academic at Princeton University, Iranian state media reported on Thursday.
A senior militia leader in Baghdad confirmed to The National that the deal included the release of militants, but didn't give details. “The deal has many aspects that are not in our interest to disclose”.
“Informed sources in Iraq reported that an Israeli spy was exchanged for two resistance prisoners,” Tasnim news agency said.
It added that “she was exchanged for two resistance prisoners, while the Americans had initially claimed that they were the ones who freed her”.
A source told Tasnim that "one of those released was Imad Omehz, a Lebanese citizen abducted by Israeli army commandos in northern Lebanon last year".
A senior militia leader in Baghdad confirmed to The National that the deal included the release of militants, but didn't give details. “The deal has many aspects that are not in our interest to disclose”.
Ms Tsurkov, a doctoral student, was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023. US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that the militant group Kataib Hezbollah was behind her detention.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said on X that her release was the culmination of “significant efforts exerted by our security agencies over many months".
Despite being part of formal security structures, militias like Kata'ib Hezbollah continue to wield coercive power, complicating Iraq’s drive toward full governmental control.
The release of Ms Tsurkov marks a welcome human and diplomatic resolution, but also underscores persistent challenges. Kata'ib Hezbollah's influence speaks to unresolved fissures in Iraq’s security landscape.
The group has been listed by the US government as a terrorist organisation since 2009. It was also accused of being behind the 2015 kidnapping of more than two dozen Qatari falcon hunters in southern Iraq, some of whom are members of the ruling family. They were released two years later.
The incident illustrates how hostages can become levers in broader geopolitical bargaining, and how Iraq’s internal and regional balancing acts remain delicate.
“This case illustrates the extent to which militias continue to operate beyond the law in Iraq and challenge the authority of the government,” a Western diplomat told The National. “That makes Al Sudani's balancing act even harder as he seeks to assert sovereignty,” he said.
