Shirin Ebadi Intervenes to Prevent Arrests of Human Rights Activists

During U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour's visit to Iran earlier this week, several family members of political prisoners had gathered in front of the UN office in Tehran on September 3 to meet with her following up on the letter sent by Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi to express concerns regarding human rights abuses in Iran. The police brutally attacked and tried to arrest those who attempted to meet with Arbour. Dr. Ebadi
intervened and insisted that if anyone were to be arrested, she too should be arrested. The police retreated. Here is the link to the article in Farsi.

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."

New IAEA Report on Iran

On August 30, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General ElBaradei also delivered his report on the Implementation of Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards in Iran to the IAEA Board of Governors. The assessment states that Iran is now simultaneously operating nearly 2,000 centrifuges, the fast-spinning machines that produce enriched uranium, at its vast underground facilityat Natanz, an increase of several hundred machines from three months ago. More than 650 more centrifuges are being tested or are under construction. That number is far short of Iran's projection that by now it would be running 3,000 of the machines.

Mohamed ElBaradei said in an hour-long interview: "This is the first time Iran is ready to discuss all the outstanding issues which triggered the crisis in confidence. It's a significant step. There are clear deadlines, so it's not, as some people are saying, an open-ended invitation to dallying with the agency or a ruse to prolong negotiations and avoid sanctions." He added, "I'm clearat this stage, you need to give Iran a chance to prove its stated good will. Sanctions alone, I know for sure, are not going to lead to a durable solution."

Reacting to the report, the Bush administration repeated its determination to continue with its current approach. State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said: "There is no partial credit here. Iran has refused to comply with its international obligations, and, as a result of that, the international community is going to continue to ratchet up the pressure."

For his efforts to deal with Iran, the Washington Post published this scathing editorial on ElBaradei today, to which a colleague asked, "Does anybody know what is the Post smoking?"

Dangerous Circumstances for Women's Rights Activists Draws Attention of UN Human Rights Commissioner

I reported last month in my "Iran Update," an email newsletter, that in July, Nobel Peace Laureate and Human Rights Lawyer Shirin Ebadi wrote to the Honorable Ms. Louisa Arbour, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner regarding the dangerous circumstances facing women's rights activists in Iran. Dr. Ebadi said they have become more endangered than ever before and outlined the cases of a group of "women's rights defendants" who have been sentenced to jail for periods of time. Dr. Ebadi appealed for a United Nations delegation to visit Iran to investigate the situation of women's rights defenders.

The "One Million Signatures Campaign" reported today that Arbour will be in Tehran September 2-4 to attend the Non-Aligned Conference which will be held on September 2-3 at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During her stay in Iran, Ms. Arbour will also meet with women and human rights defenders, in an effort to investigate increased pressures on these sectors. The meeting with women's rights defenders will be held at the UN headquarters in Iran.

According to Dr. Ebadi's letter and the Campaign:

"Iranian women's rights defenders have come under increased pressure, as they have stepped up efforts to reform laws that discriminate against women. Activists involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign, which is a peaceful and civil effort intended to collect signatures asking the Parliament to reform laws which discriminate against women, have faced consistent pressure in the past year, since the launch of the Campaign. Recently two members of the Campaign, Fatemeh Dehdashti and Nasim Sarabandi were issued 6 month jail terms for collecting signatures and Amir Yaghoubali the most recent member of the Campaign to be arrested for collection of signatures, spent nearly one month in solitary confinement in the Security branch of Evin Prison, Ward 209. In all 13 members of the Campaign have been arrested in relation to their activities in this peaceful effort and for collecting signatures, most are facing security charges. Other forms of pressure, such as threats, phone tapping, interrogations, disruption of meetings, denial of meeting space, blocking of the their website, etc have worked to thwart the Campaign and its activists in their efforts to raise public awareness about the discriminatory nature of the law. Despite these pressures, the Campaign celebrated its first year anniversary on August 27, 2007, and the activists involved in the Campaign are continuing with their work."

Update on H.R. 1400

On September 4, 2007, the House Committee on Judiciary granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Sept. 21, 2007 on H.R.1400, an bill to impose further economic sanctions on Iran sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) along with 323 other co-sponsors.

Is it Fall of 2002 Again? Troubling Signs from Administration on Iran Confrontation

Today, the Friends Committee on National Legislation reported that the Bush administration has denied visas to Iranian religious leaders, who were scheduled to engage in dialogue with religious leaders in the United States.

They expressed their disappointment and said they were troubled that the administration denied the visas on what are said to be national security grounds, particularly because they received assurances that the visas would be approved.

“The denials parallel a disturbing escalation of rhetoric against Iran and further demonstrate this administration’s current strategy of confrontation rather than diplomacy,” FCNL said in an email. In February 2007, a delegation of religious leaders including FCNL Secretary Joe Volk went to Iran. They said their conversations in Iran revealed a strong Iranian desire to engage the U.S. and negotiate on the issues that divide our two countries. Failure to pursue aggressively possibilities for future agreements could lead to another avoidable catastrophe in the Middle East for the U.S. and the peoples of the region.

Meanwhile, George Packer from the New Yorker said on his blog today that if there was ever a threat level on war with Iran, we’ve now reached orange. He also confirmed a blog posting from Barnett Rubin, the highly respected Afghanistan expert at New York University, regarding an account of a conversation with a friend who has connections to someone at a neoconservative institution in Washington who said:

“They [the source's institution] have ‘instructions’ (yes, that was theword used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaignfor war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained. Evidently they don't think they'll ever get majority support for this—they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is ‘plenty.’”

After Packer posted his blog, he wrote a post script which read: “Barnett Rubin just called me. His source spoke with a neocon think-tanker who corroborated the story of the propaganda campaign and had this to say about it: "I am a Republican. I am a conservative. But I'm not a raging lunatic. This is lunatic."

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.