Iran Releases Detained U.S. Academic

Iranian-American Scholar Held For Months In Tehran Is Freed After Posting $330K Bail

(AP)  After months spent in a notorious prison with no access to lawyers, Haleh Esfandiari was released on bail on Tuesday. It remained unclear if the 67-year-old Iranian-American academic, charged with endangering Iranian national security, would be allowed to leave the country.

Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, had been jailed in Tehran's Evin prison since early May after enduring months of intense interrogations.

"I'm very happy. It was unexpected. I thank all those who made efforts to make it possible for me to go home," Esfandiari told Iranian television, speaking in Farsi, outside the Evin prison. State-run television showed her walking out of the prison grounds before meeting family who were waiting in a car on a nearby street.

Earlier Tuesday, Mohammad Shadabi, an official at the Tehran prosecutor's office, told The Associated Press that Esfandiari was released after she paid a bail of 3 billion rials (about US$333,000). Family members said her elderly mother used the deed to her Tehran home to post the bail.

Former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton, head of the Wilson Center, said he was unsure what had prompted the bail release but said he had recently received a written response from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after sending him a letter appealing for Esfandiari's release.

"I cannot speak to that (why she was released) with certainty, because I do not know what goes on inside the Iranian government. I think an important factor was my letter to the supreme leader a few weeks ago," Hamilton told reporters by phone. Hamilton also had met with Iran's U.N. representative, who told him Esfandiari's release was imminent.

Hamilton, who has not been in direct contact with Esfandiari, said as far as he knew, the charges against her had not been dismissed. He also said he didn't have information about three other Iranian-Americans facing security-related charges in Iran.

Esfandiari's husband said his wife's 93-year-old mother received a call from an Iranian judiciary official Tuesday morning informing her of the decision to release Esfandiari on bail. Fanny Esfandiari used the deed to her Tehran apartment to post bail, Shaul Bakhash said.

"I feel extremely good. It has been a very anxious several months. Now we hope she will not only be released from prison but allowed to come back home," Bakhash said from his home in Potomac, Maryland.

Esfandiari's troubles in Iran began when three masked men holding knives threatened to kill her on Dec. 30 as she was her way to the Tehran airport after visiting her mother, the Wilson Center has said. They took her baggage, including her U.S. and Iranian passports, making her unable to leave the country, the center said.

For several weeks, she was interrogated by authorities for up to eight hours a day, according to the center. Most of the questioning focused on the activities of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center.

Iran confirmed in mid-May that it was detaining Esfandiari and charged her later that month. The only contact her family has had with her since then have been short phone calls to her mother from prison. In the calls, Esfandiari indicated she was under immense stress and was having trouble receiving medications for health conditions, Hamilton said.

[j-whitman]

infidel_us,,, Yep, it''s true Reagan didn''t think him much.. I Liked Reagan, & helped him run for governor when I was 16 he was more liberal than conservative...

[infidel_us]

In Ronald Reagan''''s Letters he wrote about meeting George W. Bush --- "I''''ve never met a 40 year old man that never had a job before"
Posted by j-whitman at 02:42 PM : Aug 21, 2007

LOL...is that true???

[j-whitman]

Hillary is too Cold,,,, Obama is too Hot ---- GOP''s solution -- Giulini,,, a cross dresser

[cmp271]

Mrs. Obama said to Hillary - If you can''''t run your own house - you can''''t run the White House! Ooooooo, do I like this one.

I like that one too, maybe she should have been the little woman in the kitchen baking cookies as she made fun of all of us!!!! Stupid female dog, too bad Vick didn''t use her as well?

[cmp271]

Mybe we better not say anything until she is safely in the states.

I do remember Reagan''s four step plan if the hostages weren''t released back in 79-80. He had chutzpa, "you can run, but you can''t hide." How odd they were released the night before inauguration.
Let''s bomb Libya again just for fun,
maybe this time we can fly over France and not lose an F-111(EF-111). BZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz over Tripoli...............

[j-whitman]

White House continues the decades long war against the CIA today,
,, White House Exectutive Summary released today accuses Tennent & CIA of failing to understand the threat of Al Queda.... LOL
.. 70% of our intell budget goes to private contractors ----- Who you gonna believe ????

[grazinggoat]

dumrose, mbcshmoot, badassmuffer, idiotbybye, freshgrad2007, stinkingcheez%u2026 naaaaah, no comment today! All the same sh*t all daylong!

[j-whitman]

mbcsmith,,, It''s called TRUTH --- He didn''t have an Anglo-Saxon name,,, He was from the Middle East, not South Carolina & he was a Jew & not a Christian -------- He doesn''t talk to anyone & he''s not a God

[j-whitman]

mbcsmith,,, It''s called Constitutionally guarenteed Freedoms of Speach - You neo-nazi''s oppose & would silence

[mbcsmith]

mbcsmith -- I suppose Jesus has lost support because he also has a Middle Eastern God given name --- Yeshua bar Yahosef bar Yaqub
Posted by j-whitman at 01:52 PM : Aug 21, 2007

*** are you talking about? Keep it to yourself LIB. You have nothing of interest to say.

[j-whitman]

In Ronald Reagan''s Letters he wrote about meeting George W. Bush --- "I''ve never met a 40 year old man that never had a job before"

[j-whitman]

mudrose,,,, You should get married to badaxmo -- You can call yourselves - badmudboysfuc

[mudrose-2009]

And his daddy was a muslim but Obamaosama wasn''''t. :)
Posted by infidel_us

Mrs. Obama said to Hillary - If you can''t run your own house - you can''t run the White House! Ooooooo, do I like this one. But today, everything is Bush''s Fault!

[j-whitman]

Funny,,, The Petreaus report is being written by the White House,,, Will be delivered to Congress on 9/11 ---

"Oh no it has nothing to do with 9/11, we are observing Roshashana" says the White House....

[infidel_us]

I suppose Jesus has lost support because he also has a Middle Eastern God given name --- Yeshua bar Yahosef bar Yaqub
Posted by j-whitman at 01:52 PM : Aug 21, 2007

Actually, Jesus (and Mary to an even greater degree) are held in quite high esteem by muslims and islam.

[j-whitman]

mbcsmith -- I suppose Jesus has lost support because he also has a Middle Eastern God given name --- Yeshua bar Yahosef bar Yaqub

[mbcsmith]

Maybe if Obamaramalama gets elected to Prez, the Iranians will like us better since Obamaramalama''''s name is sort of like those Iranian and Middle Eastern sounding type of names....
Posted by badaxmofo at 01:34 PM : Aug 21, 2007


Not likely since his middle name is HUSSEIN.

[infidel_us]

since Obamaramalama''''s name is sort of like those Iranian and Middle Eastern sounding type of names....
Posted by badaxmofo at 01:34 PM : Aug 21, 2007

And his daddy was a muslim but Obamaosama wasn''t. :)

[feelfree1]

idiobiblio,

You make some good point, and I don''t wish to diminish them, however,

Re: "However, I personally feel that this country isn''''t defined simply by our presidential administrations'''' posturing or our governmental and military policies."

Do we, as Americans, not bear the ultimate responsibility for our Governmnent''s actions?

I suspect that you have already answered this, at least on the periphery, with:

"We have an abundance of human dignity remaining. It''s in each of us who avoids complacency and stands up for decency for our fellow man."

Hear, hear.

[j-whitman]

fredgrad2000,,,,, She''s lucky she''s in Iran -- Saudi''s would have cut her head off..... Iran has the world''s second largest population of Jews, 2nd only to Isreal... They get along just fine..... Saudi''s still today refuse entry to Isrealites.