US envoy visited Iraq to push for release of Israeli-Russian researcher

Shafaq News/ US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Adam Boehler, traveled to Iraq last month to push for the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq nearly two years ago, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Since taking office, Boehler has stepped up efforts to secure the release of Tsurkov, a Princeton University student who went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023, publicly urging the Iraqi government to help facilitate her return.

“The Trump Administration has done more in just a few weeks than the previous administration did in almost two years,” Emma Tsurkov, Elizabeth’s sister, said in a statement to Reuters.

“I am especially grateful to Special Envoy Boehler for going directly to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad. His engagement with Sudani makes it clear that the U.S. holds Sudani responsible for finding a way to get my sister home.”

An Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed to Reuters that Boehler had visited Iraq in February to discuss the Tsurkov case but did not provide further details.

Boehler is seeking to negotiate a deal under which Tsurkov would be released in exchange for six members of Iran-aligned Lebanese Hezbollah, one of the sources said, adding that a whole-of-government effort is underway to bring her back.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in January that an Iraqi armed group is holding Tsurkov and that Baghdad is working to secure her release. He did not name the group, however, Israeli officials claim that Tsurkov is being held by the Shiite Kataib Hezbollah.

Hussein told Axios that the researcher “is alive,” adding that the Iraqi prime minister is working to secure her release.

In November 2023, Iraq’s Al Rabiaa TV aired a video showing Tsurkov, in which she claimed she had been detained for seven months and had worked for the CIA and Mossad in Iraq and Syria. Her family and friends quickly dismissed these claims, emphasizing that Tsurkov is a scholar focused on academic research.