The mystery surrounding the researcher’s whereabouts complicates Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani’s relationship with the US, which has threatened punitive action is she is not returned
i24NEWS
American attempts to secure the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov are facing a major obstacle, according to an Iraqi official cited by the Israeli news site Ynet on Wednesday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani claims not to know where the researcher is being held, the official said, even though he is “ready to cooperate for her release.”
This comes as Washington intensifies its diplomatic pressures to obtain the immediate release of the Israeli-Russian researcher.
The same official mentioned persistent rumors within the American administration that Elizabeth Tsurkov might have been transferred to Iran for questioning. “It is entirely possible that she was secretly transferred there, or that the Iranians sent intelligence service investigators,” he said.
Commenting on the intelligence that the researcher is indeed alive, the Iraqi official said it is a “great stroke of luck that Elizabeth Tsurkov is alive. Usually, in such cases, people are executed during the interrogations. Her foreign identity plays in her favor.”
Emma Tsurkov, the sister of Elizabeth, has refuted allegations that she is located in Iran. “It’s a convenient excuse that the government keeps repeating, but she’s not in Iran. The Iraqi government knows exactly who is holding her,” she told Ynet.
Emma Tsurkov stated that she had spoken several times with Adam Boehler, the American emissary for hostage-related matters, stating that she had received “encouraging updates” from him. “It’s amazing to see how the team set up by the White House managed to change things in just a few weeks,” she added.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, 36, is a renowned researcher specializing in Middle Eastern affairs. A PhD candidate at Princeton University, she disappeared in Baghdad in March 2023 while conducting field research.
In July 2023, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced that the young woman was being held captive by the Shiite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi armed group supported by Iran and designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.