Officials said that the decision to prepare sanctions on Russia and Iran began long before Mr. Gershkovich was detained by Russia, but added that his case added to the “pattern of activity” that justified punishing the government.
In addition to Mr. Gershkovich, Russia is still holding other Americans, including Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who has been held in Russia since 2018 on what the U.S. government says are fabricated espionage charges. Russia is also holding Marc Fogel, an American who was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana.
Brittney Griner, an American basketball star detained on similar drug charges, was released late last year after nearly 10 months of captivity in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”
In October, Iran briefly released Siamak Namazi, a 51-year-old dual-national Iranian American businessman who had been jailed since 2015, on a temporary furlough and lifted the travel ban on his father, Baquer Namazi, 85, a former official for the United Nations.
But Mr. Namazi is back in Iranian prison, and earlier this year went on a weeklong hunger strike to protest his detention. At the time, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said that “Iran’s use of wrongful detention as political leverage is outrageous.”
Iran is also holding Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz. Mr. Tahbaz, 67, a businessman and conservationist, has been detained since 2018. Mr. Sharghi, also a businessman, was arrested in January. Both are being held by the Iranian government on charges of spying and threatening national security.
In January, Ms. Jean-Pierre said that the Biden administration was “continuing to work to bring him home, along with U.S. citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.”
