Iran Charges Iranian - American Academic

Go to http://www.freehaleh.org/ for more info. on what you can do to help or click here.

NY Times:

Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, has been held at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since early May...

State TV said she and the Wilson Center were conspiring together to topple the government by setting up a network ''against the sovereignty of the country.''

''This is an American-designed model with an attractive appearance that seeks the soft-toppling of the country,'' state TV said.

The announcement was the first time Iran said it had officially charged Esfandiari with seeking to overthrow the ruling establishment, a severe security crime. It was not immediately clear when Esfandiari will stand trial or if the trial will be public.

The broadcast said Esfandiari confirmed during interrogations that her center ''invited Iranians to attend conferences, offered them research projects, scholarships ... and tried to lure influential elements and link them to decision-making centers in America.''

This is terrible news and some liberals think that we should be sending more of our academics over there to appease the erudite Mafiacracy and their westernized propaganda agents by exchanging cultural and scientific (both of which are viewed as abomination by the clergies) programs.

I think aroma therapy and Paris Hilton will have a much better chance of changing the behavior and the agenda of the Klepotacracy.