Kuwait Has Revoked Journalist Ahmed Shihab Eldin’s Citizenship After It Jailed Him For Posting About Iran's War
Kuwaiti authorities revoked the citizenship of 21 people, including that of Shihab Eldin and his sisters, arguing that they held dual citizenship.
Kuwait has revoked prominent American-Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab Eldin’s citizenship after detaining him for more than seven weeks over social media posts related to the US and Israel’s war in Iran.
Shihab Eldin, a 41-year-old award-winning journalist of Palestinian descent who has worked with Al Jazeera, VICE, PBS and The New York Times and has more than two million social media followers, was visiting family in Kuwait City when he was arrested on March 3, according to Drop Site News.
Since the US and Israel began their war on Feb. 28, Gulf governments have clamped down hard on what people could say about it online.
In his last post on March 2, before his arrest, Shihab Eldin reshared CNN footage of a US Air Force fighter jet crashing near a US base in Kuwait in what was reported as friendly fire.
The footage had already been geolocated and verified by CNN.
He was then arrested the next day and held for 52 days.
On April 23, a Kuwaiti court finally cleared him of all charges.
His lawyer said he was found innocent on all counts and was expected to be released immediately.
Shihab Eldin left Kuwait shortly after his release, but the country he traveled to has not been publicly disclosed.
“The past seven weeks have been a harrowing ordeal — one that has only strengthened my resolve in the face of injustice,” Shihab Eldin said in a statement. "For now, I am focusing on recovery. In time, I will speak about what I endured. I am grateful to everyone who spoke out for me—your solidarity mattered, and it must continue".
On Wednesday, April 29, Kuwaiti authorities revoked the citizenship of 21 people, including that of Shihab Eldin and his sisters, arguing that they held dual citizenship, which Kuwait prohibits, according to Middle East Eye.
“Stripping Shihab Eldin of his citizenship is not just punitive, it is a dangerous escalation in the use of state power to crush press freedom,” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) CEO Jodie Ginsberg said.
CPJ said Kuwait had revoked the citizenship of more than 71,000 people between October 2024 and April 2026.
Kuwait also enforced a new law on March 15, criminalizing coverage of military-related events.
The law imposes prison sentences of up to 10 years on anyone who “disseminates news, publishes statements, or spreads false rumors related to military entities” with the intent of undermining confidence in those entities.
Ikran Dahir
Cherry Mohamed
Ikran Dahir
