Since March 2023, Tsurkov has been held hostage by the Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah.

Elizabeth Tsurkov (36), A Russian-Israeli who was taken captive by an Iran-backed terror group in Baghdad in 2023, is reportedly alive, the Iraqi Foreign Minister told Axios on Thursday.

Tsurkov, a Middle East researcher at Princeton University, arrived in Iraq on her Russian passport to engage in research for her doctoral dissertation.

Travel to enemy countries is illegal for Israeli citizens, even on a foreign passport, given the security risk.

Since March 2023, Tsurkov has been held hostage by the Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein emphasized that Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani is working for Tsurkov’s release.

In a September 2023 interview, the Iraqi Prime Minister said it wasn’t clear who was responsible for abducting Tsurkov.

“The incident damages the reputation of Iraq’s stability and the capability of our security agencies,” he said.

Tsurkov’s family said they spoke with her the day before she was captured, and then nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

They said, “We talked the day before the kidnapping, a completely normal and standard conversation about the interviews she had done, about what was left for her to do.”

When the incident happened, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office issued a statement.

“We hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being. She is an academic who visited Iraq on her Russian passport, at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University in the US,” the statement said.

“The matter is being handled by the relevant parties in the State of Israel out of concern for Elizabeth Tsurkov’s security and well-being,” it continued.

In May, the sister of Elizabeth Tsurkov pressured the U.S. government to secure her release, claiming that Washington has a “moral obligation” to do so.

“The Israeli government isn’t really in a position to do much here. Israel doesn’t have formal ties with Iraq and the Iraqi parliament passed an anti-normalization law which imposes prison sentences for any Iraqi who engages with Israelis or promotes normalization. The relationship is very much nonexistent,” Emma Tsurkov told JNS.

“The United States has way more leverage. The United States has a moral obligation to get her out. Iraq is a strong U.S. ally and receives hundreds of millions of dollars every year from Washington. There should be more accountability,” she added.

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