Ali Shakeri Released from Prison

Ali Shakeri was released from Evin Prison in Tehran this week. He still must wait for a judge to give him permission to leave Iran. Shakeri is the last of four Iranian Americans who were arrested in May to be released.

Ali Shakeri is a mortgage broker and a founding board member of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding at UC Irvine. Iranian officials have not specified what charges he faced or why he was being detained.

There is still no word about former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who has been missing since a business trip to Iran in March. This week, the Iranian government said it will allow Levinson's wife travel to Iran even though it has no information on his whereabouts.

Haleh Esfandiari Details Her Imprisonment

On September 16, Haleh Esfandiari detailed her imprisonment in Iran in the Washington Post. In the article, she writes about how she coped with solitary confinement and interrogations. Be sure to read the article, "Held in my Homeland."

Free Ali Shakeri

Friends and family of Ali Shakeri, a respected Iranian-American peace activist who has now been held in prison in Iran for 136 days (as of September 21, 2007), have a launched a campaign site with news and opportunities to take action. Click here to visit the site.

Kian is Free

Kian Tajbakhsh was released from Evin Prison late last night with no warning. His release comes a day after Radio Farda correspondent Parnaz Azima departed Iran. The status of the charges against the three Iranian Americans who have been released is still unclear. California businessman Ali Shakeri, who was also picked up in May, is still missing, as is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who has been missing since a business trip to Iran in March.

The Open Society Institute, for whom Tajbakhsh consults has not yet posted a statement on their website. However, OSI spokesperson Laura Silber said, "OSI is delighted that this distinguished scholar is safe at home in Tehran with his wife and that his harrowing ordeal finally seems to have come to an end."

Kian Tajbakhsh to be Released on Bail Soon

Special thanks to Azadeh Ensha for forwarding this information (she also translated the original article for Barnett Rubin and the Informed Comment Global Affairs blog).

"State television of Iran quoted Hassan Hadad, prosecutor for the national security court in Tehran, reported that the investigation of the special court into Mr. Tajbakhsh is ongoing, and that after completion of the investigation, he will be released on bail."

Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Azima Free to Leave Iran

The following is excerpted from a Woodrow Wilson Center statement:

"Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, left Iran on September 2, and arrived in Vienna, Austria early on September 3. Iranian officials issued her passport on September 1st and she will return to the US after visiting family in Vienna.

“'After a long and difficult ordeal, I am elated to be on my way back to my home and my family. These last eight months, that included 105 days in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, have not been easy. But I wish to put this episode behind me and to look to the future, not to the past,' said Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program.

“'I am immensely grateful for the unstinting support I received from Wilson Center President, Lee Hamilton, and the Wilson Center staff. I am equally grateful to the many organizations and hundreds of individuals all over the world that called and worked for my freedom; to the journalists and news organizations that gave my case wide coverage; and to all those who interceded on my behalf. I owe thanks also to my lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, and her legal colleagues who so ably represented me.'

"'I wish especially to thank the Austrian ambassador to Tehran, Dr. Michael Postl and his colleagues, whose friendship and concern for the well-being of my mother and myself was truly extra-ordinary.'

"'I am sure everyone will understand my need, now, for a period of quiet and privacy before I resume my normal activities.'

"Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, was incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison on May 8, 2007, on allegations of endangering Iranian national security. During her lengthy confinement, she was denied access to her legal defense team and to independent monitoring bodies such as the ICRC and was allowed only limited contact with her family.For detailed information regarding Haleh Esfandiari’s detention and imprisonment, including a comprehensive timeline of events, please visit www.wilsoncenter.org/halehnews."

Meanwhile, Parnaz Azima, who works for the US-funded radio station Radio Liberty, was the second Iranian American to reportedly been given permission to leave Iran. She had been charged with spreading propaganda against theIranian state. She had earlier been released on bail but was unable to leave the countrybecause the authorities were keeping her passport.

Ali Shakeri Kian Tajbaksh are still being held in Iran.

Bail Posted for Haleh Esfandiari

News reports abound that Haleh Esfandiari will be released from Evin prison where she has been held for over 100 days. According to the most recent CNN report, Prof. Esfandiari's mother posted bail for her, a reported three billion Iranian rials (around $320,000). It is still unclear exactly what being released on bail means for her.

The Iranian government has not made any comment on Prof. Esfandiari's release nor any comment regarding the three other Iranian American dual nationals who are still being detained - Kian Tajbakhsh, Ali Shakeri and Parnaz Azima.

UPDATE: Haleh Esfandiari is now at home with her family in Tehran. Her lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi, says that Prof. Esfandiari is legally allowed to leave the country.

Iran's ISNA news agency has also suggested Kian Tajbakhsh might also be freed on bail in coming days, but has not given details.

Haleh Imprisoned for 100th Day

This is from a Wilson Center press release:

"Today marks the 100th day of imprisonment for Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program. Esfandiari has been incarcerated in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran since May 8, on allegations of endangering Iranian national security.

'We are extremely dismayed about Haleh’s situation, and our concerns about her health and mental well-being have only increased as weeks of captivity have stretched into months,' said Sharon McCarter, communications director of the Woodrow Wilson Center. 'A renowned scholar and a tireless advocate for greater dialogue between Iran and the United States, Haleh has committed no crimes. The Iranian Judiciary has said that the investigation of Haleh and Kian Tajbakhsh is complete. Our plea to the Iranian government remains simple: Let Haleh go. She has done nothing wrong. We ask for Haleh’s safe return to her family immediately, as well as the release and safe return of all of the detained Iranian-Americans.'"

NWI Issues Statement on Haleh

Yesterday, the Nobel Women's Initiative (NWI) issued this statement regarding Haleh Esfandiari's case. Shirin Ebadi, is one of the co-founders of NWI and also Haleh's lawyer.

A portion of the statement reads:

"Dr. Esfandiari’s harassment began even earlier than her arrest on May 8. Dr. Esfandiari went to Tehran in December 2006 to visit her 93 year old mother. On December 30, on her way to the airport to fly back to her home in the United States, she was stopped by three masked, knife-wielding men who took away all her belongings, including her American and Iranian passports.

Prevented from leaving the country, she was subjected to over 50 hours of interrogation by officials of the Ministry of Intelligence, subjected to intimidation and threatened with graver consequences if she did not “cooperate” with the authorities. Such interrogation methods continued after her unjustified incarceration in Evin Prison.

Iranian authorities apparently wish to charge her with actions against national security. Such charges are entirely without foundation.

In her work at the Wilson Center, Dr. Esfandiari has strived to provide a forum for exchanges among scholars, researchers and journalists representing a wide range of views on Middle Eastern issues. She has been a tireless promoter of and believer in dialogue between Iran and the international community. She has devoted a lifetime to the advancement of women’s rights in the Middle East."

Click here and here for more info on how US policy is affecting the arrest of Iranian Americans.