{
  "id": 13376251,
  "title": "Yousof Azizi: The Iranian-American scholar pressured by the FBI to return to Iran",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/yousof-azizi-the-iranian-american-scholar-pressured-by-the-fbi-to-13376251",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-10T09:25:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Middle East Eye",
    "slug": "middle-east-eye",
    "url": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/yousof-azizi-iranian-american-scholar-pressured-fbi-return-iran"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Monday, April 13th, Yousof Azizi began his day like any other as a PhD student at Virginia Tech University in Baltimore, Maryland. He took his two young children to school before returning home. A vocal critic of the war on Iran, Azizi had been living in the United States for nearly 13 years. He was a well-known political commentator on Persian-language media and a popular figure on his YouTube channel, which boasts over 68,000 subscribers. Additionally, Azizi had engaged in discussions with Congress regarding the Iran nuclear deal during Barack Obama's presidency.\n\nUpon his return home that morning, Azizi was met with a startling sight: a number of FBI vehicles parked outside his residence. As he stepped out of his car, he was immediately surrounded by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, their rifles pointed directly at him. Azizi was subsequently detained for a period of three months before he opted for a voluntary departure from the United States to Iran.",
  "summary": "Yousof Azizi: The Iranian-American scholar pressured by the FBI to return to Iran Monday 13 April started as a normal day for Yousof Azizi, a PhD student at Virginia Tech University in America. In the morning, he took his 12-year-old daughter and four-year-old son to their schools in Baltimore, Maryland, before returning home. A vocal opponent of the war on Iran, he had been living in the US for…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Middle East Eye",
        "title": "Yousof Azizi: The Iranian-American scholar pressured by the FBI to return to Iran",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/yousof-azizi-the-iranian-american-scholar-pressured-by-the-fbi-to",
        "published": "2026-10-10T08:59:52.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}