2008 Woodie Awards
View print edition front page as a PDF
News
Jailed scholar speaks of Iran imprisonment
By Jeanette Lenoir on 9/13/07
Haleh Esfandiari credits her safe return to the United States after eight months in an Iranian prison to a letter from her boss to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Lee Hamilton, the president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, wrote to Khomeini requesting his help in obtaining Esfandiari's release on humanitarian grounds.
Hamilton's letter "is the main reason for me being with you today," Esfandiari said.
According to the Wilson Center, the Grand Ayatollah's "positive and respectful" reply marked the first time a Supreme Leader of Iran has replied to a U.S. leader. Hamilton is a former Democratic congressman from Indiana.
Esfandiari spoke at the Wilson Center Monday publicly for the first time about her 105-day confinement in an Iranian prison since arriving back in the United States.
The 67-year-old Esfandiari was imprisoned in Iran over allegations that she was a danger to Iranian security, according to the Wilson Center's Web site.
Esfandiari is the director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. Her age made the experience particularly rough, she said.
"To be cut off from the entire world was very tough," she said. "For eight months, I was denied my freedom to leave the country. For anyone to have their freedom taken is bad, but when you are in your 60s, it is a large loss."
Esfandiari's sudden capture from a taxi by three masked men wielding knives ended after eight months of interrogations and solitary confinement in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. The masked men threatened to kill her and took her belongings, including her dual passport and credit cards. The government accused Esfandiari of espionage and conspiracy to topple the Iranian government, according to the Wilson Center.
One student said Iran's claims that Esfandiari was a possible threat were valid.
"I can see both sides of the story. They had a reason to be suspicious," said Stacia Yearwood, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. "She has a high-level profile and traveled to a country whose relationship with the U.S. is a bit shaky. They may have thought she has divided loyalty being both Iranian and American, but how they went about it is unwarranted and uncalled for."
Lee Hamilton, the president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, wrote to Khomeini requesting his help in obtaining Esfandiari's release on humanitarian grounds.
Hamilton's letter "is the main reason for me being with you today," Esfandiari said.
According to the Wilson Center, the Grand Ayatollah's "positive and respectful" reply marked the first time a Supreme Leader of Iran has replied to a U.S. leader. Hamilton is a former Democratic congressman from Indiana.
Esfandiari spoke at the Wilson Center Monday publicly for the first time about her 105-day confinement in an Iranian prison since arriving back in the United States.
The 67-year-old Esfandiari was imprisoned in Iran over allegations that she was a danger to Iranian security, according to the Wilson Center's Web site.
Esfandiari is the director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. Her age made the experience particularly rough, she said.
"To be cut off from the entire world was very tough," she said. "For eight months, I was denied my freedom to leave the country. For anyone to have their freedom taken is bad, but when you are in your 60s, it is a large loss."
Esfandiari's sudden capture from a taxi by three masked men wielding knives ended after eight months of interrogations and solitary confinement in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. The masked men threatened to kill her and took her belongings, including her dual passport and credit cards. The government accused Esfandiari of espionage and conspiracy to topple the Iranian government, according to the Wilson Center.
One student said Iran's claims that Esfandiari was a possible threat were valid.
"I can see both sides of the story. They had a reason to be suspicious," said Stacia Yearwood, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. "She has a high-level profile and traveled to a country whose relationship with the U.S. is a bit shaky. They may have thought she has divided loyalty being both Iranian and American, but how they went about it is unwarranted and uncalled for."
Be the first to comment on this story