Was Austin Tice transferred to Iran?.. New details about the disappearance of the American journalist

The family of American journalist Austin Tice, missing in Syria since 2012, said it has information suggesting he may be in the custody of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

According to "Houston Public Media," Tice's family said they "have reasons to believe he is still alive, and may have been transferred from Syria to Iran."

Austin Tice, whose work was published in The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers, and others, was covering events in Syria on August 14, 2012, when he disappeared from a checkpoint west of Damascus.

A video released shortly after showed him being detained by armed men.

Naomi Tice, one of Austin's sisters, said "the family has information indicating he may be in the custody of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which may have transferred him from Syria to Iran, either during or after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024."

She added: "Assad consistently insisted he was not holding Austin, and he stuck to that position firmly. We also know that Iran runs some detention centers in Syria, and this technical point may be one reason Assad said he wasn't holding him, because Iran was actually controlling them at that time."

Searches in Syria for political prisoners who were held by the Assad regime, after its fall, did not locate Austin Tice.

Naomi said: "With the change of regime, we believe that at that stage Austin may have been transferred to Iran. Again, this is not certain, but we have strong reasons to believe it may have happened."

The Tice family urges the administration of President Donald Trump to communicate directly with the Iranian regime for information, as part of ongoing negotiations to end the war between the United States and Israel on one side, and Iran on the other.

Naomi Tice said: "We know that Mike Waltz has recently re-engaged in this process. He has a track record of advocating for Austin, speaking publicly about working to secure his release, both in his role as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and in his current role in negotiations with Iran. So seeing him involved in these talks gives us hope again."