FP contributor imprisoned in Tehran

[Laworkerbee]

esteemed scholar Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was imprisoned in Tehran this week. Back in December, Dr. Esfandiari was literally on her way to the airport to fly back to her home in Washington when her taxi was stopped by three men with knives. They seized all her belongings, including her Iranian and her American passports. Esfandiari, a dual Iranian-American citizen, went to seek a replacement passport but was denied. Since then, she had been under virtual house arrest at her 93-year-old mother's home, allowed to leave only to visit Iran's intelligence ministry, where she was questioned for hours and hours upon end. That is, until Tuesday, when she was arrested and thrown into Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.

This is the most prominent detention of an U.S. citizen in Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis. There were a couple new developments yesterday. The State Department condemned Esfandiari's imprisonment, as well as the detention of Parnaz Azima, a correspondent for the U.S.-funded Radio Farda, whose passport was confiscated in January. Esfandiari's mother attempted to visit her in prison, but was turned away. And a hard-line Iranian news agency charged that Esfandiari heads up the Iran section for AIPAC, an absolutely ludicrous accusation. Esfandiari is known for hosting wide-ranging discussions on Iranian affairs, taking all viewpoints into account.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/4704


I'm getting tired of Bull**** from Iran's government.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Next up, she'll be forced to make a video confessing that she violated the sovereignty of the peaceful people of Iran, they'll give her a new dress and send her home with a stuffed bear.

[Laworkerbee]

TEHRAN -- Iran's foreign ministry Sunday refused to confirm that a visiting US-Iranian scholar had been detained in Tehran, five days after her reported arrest.

Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said it was up to Iran's judiciary to make any comments about the case of Haleh Esfandiari, who has been lambasted in the hardline media as an "Israeli spy."

Relatives said that Esfandiari, who works for the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, was jailed in Tehran's Evin prison Tuesday after being unable to leave the country since December.

"She is an Iranian citizen and it is natural that if there is anything it will be pursued by the relevant authorities, the way other Iranian citizens are treated," said Hosseini. Iran does not recognize dual nationality.

"As I have said before, any comments in this regard should be announced by the relevant authorities and those who deal with legal and judicial matters," he added.

Iran's judiciary has yet to make any official comment on the matter, but this has not prevented elements in the press launching a virulent personal attack on the academic.

The hardline Kayhan daily Saturday accused Esfandiari of being an "Israeli intelligence service agent" and seeking to bring about a "Velvet Revolution" in Iran.

"As she has followed secret missions, she is one of those who could be categorized as a media and academic spy," it said.

"While no official outlets and media have confirmed Haleh Esfandiari's arrest, Radio Farda [of Radio Free Europe] and the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] claimed this Israeli intelligence service agent was detained in Iran."

Kayhan also alleged that "Esfandiari abandoned Islam and converted to Judaism after marrying Shaul Bakhash," a fellow Iranian who ran Kayhan's international edition in the pre-revolutionary 1960s and 70s.

The arrest of Esfandiari comes after the authorities confiscated the passport of fellow dual US-Iranian national, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Parnaz Azima.

Meanwhile, the US State Department has said that an ex-Federal Bureau of Investigations agent, Robert Levinson, went missing earlier this year on the southern resort island of Kish, but Iran has insisted it has not detained the man.

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