Kidnapping of US journalist in Iraq linked to Iranian militants

An American journalist has been kidnapped in Iraq with the apparent involvement of an Iranian-backed militia, the State Department said Wednesday.

Shelly Kittleson, a freelance journalist who has contributed to various publications including POLITICO, was seized on Tuesday from a Baghdad street, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which said efforts were underway to recover her.

AL-Monitor, an independent media outlet that has published Kittleson’s work, reported that she was based in Rome and had experience covering war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

“We are deeply alarmed by the kidnapping of Al-Monitor contributor Shelly Kittleson in Iraq on Tuesday,” the publication said in a statement. “We call for her safe and immediate release.”

U.S. authorities believe one of the people involved in the kidnapping has ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezbollah, Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson wrote in a post on X. That person was in Iraqi custody, he said.

The State Department had “fulfilled our duty” to warn Kittleson of threats against her, Johnson said, reiterating the government’s warning that U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to Iraq.

Kittleson’s work from the Iraqi capital has also appeared in Foreign Policy, BBC, according to her Al-Monitor page. Her recent reporting touches on topics ranging from efforts to criminalize domestic violence in the country to its uneasy relationship with Iran.

In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on “Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson, ensure her immediate and safe release, and hold those responsible to account.”