On March 5, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem al Araji told the Associated Press that “Iraqi authorities are working under the prime minister’s direction” to find Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher who was kidnapped two years ago in Iraq.
Araji stated that “the security services are mobilized to locate her and find the group that kidnapped her,” asserting that there have been no claims of responsibility for her kidnapping. He also falsely said there were no demands for her release. Tsurkov’s sister, Emma, has campaigned to free Elizabeth and keep her case in the spotlight.
The kidnapping of Tsurkov, who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship, has received increased attention over the last several months. In January, the Associated Press noted that an Israeli official said Jerusalem was working with various countries to secure her release. The report quoted an Israeli official who said, “We are counting on our allies. […] And I hope that other nations will suggest assistance in helping us release Elizabeth. Many nations have embassies and contacts with the Iraqi government.”
Israel has reached out to the US, UK, Germany, Austria, and Canada. The report emerged around the same time a ceasefire and hostage deal were being ironed out between Israel and Hamas. The incoming Trump administration had focused on that deal at the time.
In early February 2025, Amwaj media, which is based in the UK but covers the Middle East, claimed that Iraqi militias were seeking a prisoner exchange deal for Tsurkov. The report stated that pro-Iranian militias—apparently after consulting with Hezbollah—wanted Hezbollah members captured by Israel to be released in return.
If accurate, these demands likely took place after the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel that began in late November 2024, largely ending more than a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. Iraqi militias have expressed support for Hezbollah in the past, and several that are part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq carried out attacks on Israel in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack, joining with Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups.
Tsurkov was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023, but her disappearance was not reported for more than three months. On July 6, 2023, Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office stated, “Elizabeth Tsurkov is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen who has been missing in Iraq for several months and is being held by the Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah.” Kataib Hezbollah official Abu Ali al-Askari responded by claiming the group would “seek to find out the fate of the Zionist hostage.”
An Iraqi intelligence source told AFP that Tsurkov had been kidnapped at the beginning of Ramadan in 2023, indicating Iraqi intelligence already knew about the case. This report calls into question Iraq’s current posture that it is only now aware of calls for her release and looking for her. In September 2023, Amnesty International called for Tsurkov’s release. In November 2023, in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel, Iraq’s Al Rabiaa TV broadcast a video showing Tsurkov giving a statement while in captivity.
Pressure has built on Baghdad to do more to secure her freedom. Emma Tsurkov confronted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani at an event at the Atlantic Council in April 2024 when Sudani visited Washington. She expressed hope in December 2024 that the incoming Trump administration would do more to help. Three days after Trump was inaugurated, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told a reporter in Davos that Tsurkov was alive, and Iraq was seeking to have her freed.
After Trump took office, new US Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler wrote on social media on February 5 that the Iraqi prime minister had “consistently made false promises to the prior administration about releasing her.” Boehler wrote that if Tsurkov weren’t released, Sudani would be “either incapable and should be fired or worse complicit.”
Araji’s statement on March 5 joins past statements by Iraqi officials that claim not to know who is holding Tsurkov. “The security services are mobilized to locate her and find the group that kidnapped her,” Araji said. “We have to operate discreetly and through intermediates.”
However, Kataib Hezbollah, the group accused of kidnapping her, operates as part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). This Iraqi paramilitary force, made up of mostly pro-Iranian militias, is officially integrated with Iraq’s security forces and ostensibly reports to the prime minister.
The group has been involved in a long list of attacks, including deadly attacks on US forces in Iraq and the Kingdom of Jordan. Kataib Hezbollah was accused of orchestrating the assassination of Iraqi counterterrorism expert Hisham al Hashimi in July 2020. The group was also blamed for kidnapping Qataris in Iraq in 2015 and Turkish construction workers the same year.
