Iran Releases Detained U.S. Academic

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

(AP)  Esfandiari told Iranian state-run TV after her release that her jailers were polite and she had recently been allowed to read newspapers and watch television.

"Their treatment was remarkably good. I had a big room. It was a bright room with window. They had made it possible for me to go out for a walk," she said.

Shadabi, the Iranian prosecution official, said he did not know if Esfandiari would be allowed to leave the country. It also was not known if Esfandiari would be put on trial.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has accused Esfandiari and her organization of trying to set up networks of Iranians with the ultimate goal of creating a "soft revolution" in Iran, along the lines of the revolutions that ended communist rule in eastern Europe. Bakhash and the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan institution established by the U.S. Congress in 1968, deny the allegations.

Earlier this month, Iranian authorities said they concluded investigations into Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, another detained Iranian-American accused of conspiring against the country's security who is the Evin prison, infamous for its harsh conditions for political prisoners.

Last month, Iranian public television broadcast video in which Esfandiari said a network of foreign activists was trying to destabilize Iran and bring about "essential" social change. The video also featured Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant with the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute.

Both the Wilson Center and the New York-based Open Society Institute have criticized the Iranian government for the broadcast and dismissed the statements as "coerced."

Two other Iranian-Americans also face security-related charges: Parnaz Azima, a journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Farda, and Ali Shakeri, a founding board member of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding at the University of California, Irvine. Shakeri is in prison, while Azima is free but barred from leaving Iran.

Family members, colleagues and employers of all four have consistently denied the allegations.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos could not confirm Esfandiari's release but said that the U.S. maintains the detained Iranian-Americans "had done nothing wrong, should not have been in the situation they found themselves in and should be free right now."

The detentions have become another point of contention in the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, joining Washington's accusations that Iran arms militants in Iraq, fuels unrest in Lebanon and seeks to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies those claims and blames Washington for Iraq's instability.

[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.