The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Kuwait to release Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who has been detained since March 3 after posting social media commentary on the ongoing Iran war, including a geolocated video of a US Air Force fighter jet crash near a military base west of Kuwait City.
Shihab-Eldin, 41, was visiting family in Kuwait when the US-Iran conflict erupted on February 28. His friends and allies went public about his case on Tuesday in hopes that international attention would secure his release.
Charges and CPJ Response
Kuwaiti authorities have charged Shihab-Eldin with spreading false information, harming national security, and misusing his mobile phone. CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator Sara Qudah described the charges as “vague and overly broad accusations that are routinely used to silence independent journalists.”
“We call on Kuwait to release Ahmed Shihab-Eldin and drop all charges against him,” Qudah said.
Gulf Media Crackdown
The detention is part of a broader crackdown across Gulf states on individuals posting videos and images of Iranian missile strikes and other sensitive military incidents since the Iran war began. Kuwait, a key US ally hosting American military bases, has been particularly sensitive about coverage of military events on its territory.
Shihab-Eldin is an award-winning journalist with over two million social media followers who has worked with PBS Frontline, The New York Times, Al Jazeera English, VICE on HBO, and HuffPost. He has appeared as a guest on BBC, CNN, NBC, and MSNBC.
His case is believed to be the first documented press-freedom detention directly linked to the Gulf states’ wartime media restrictions since the US-Iran conflict escalated in late February.
