Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov who was freed by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia in September offered some of her first insights yet on her captors on Monday, decrying Iran and its regional allies as "brutal ignoramuses".
"I am confident that so many of the successes Israel has had vs. the Iranian axis is not due to Israeli genius but due to the stupidity of the men who make up the rank-and-file and commanders of these militias & Iranian regime," Tsurkov wrote on X.
"Having spent 903 days in the captivity of an Iraqi militia servicing Iran, I can tell you that I've never met more ignorant people in my life," the Princeton PhD candidate added.
Tsurkov was abducted by Iran-backed Shi'ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah and was released after a Trump administration hostage envoy traveled to Iraq in February to push for her release.
She is a prolific analyst on social media and announced her return to X last month with an animation of rapper Dr. Dre with the caption "Guess who's back." Her posts are frequently critical of Israeli policy.
"Commanders who think tracking devices can be planted in teeth, but don't know white [non-silver] fillings exist. Commanders who think Masons rule the world," Tsurkov said of her captors. "Senior commanders who are literally illiterate. An Iranian commander who thinks there is such a thing as spoken vs. written Hebrew."
"What a travesty that Iraqis, Yemenis, Gazans, Iranians, and Lebanese are subject to the rule of these brutal ignoramuses," she added.
Kata’ib Hezbollah denied responsibility, but Israel’s Channel 11 cited an Iraqi official as saying that Tsurkov was initially detained by Iraq’s intelligence service—or by individuals posing as its officers—before being transferred to Kata’ib Hezbollah.
The group is one of several Tehran -backed and funded armed groups which took part in Iraq's conflict against Islamic State militants but amassed power and influence by maintaining their arms after fighting largely winded down.
