Haleh Esfandiari on PBS

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Iranian-American scholar back home after detention in Tehran

Esfandiari hugs granddaughter Ariana Warden on Sept. 5. Esfandiari, 67, told The Washington Post "that she survived solitary confinement [in Iran] by sticking to a strict 10-hour exercise regimen to keep from thinking about the implications of the charges against her."

Watch the photo Gallery here.

Read the press release from Woodrow Wilson here.

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Iran Frees US 'Spy' on Bail After Three Months

Hope she remembers this look whenever she feels inclined to apologize for the regime in the future.

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Amir Taheri on Tehran's hostages

NY Post: Amir Taheri on Haleh Esfandiari, Hamilton, Kian Tajbakhsh and Soros:

...Frequent visitors to Iran, the two had never been molested before. Both belong to groups opposed to regime change in Iran and critical of the Bush policy of challenging the Islamic Republic.

Esfandiari works for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars - whose director, ex-Rep. Lee Hamilton, has championed normalization with the Islamic Republic for decades. He was a key member of the Iraq Study Group, which urged the opening of a dialogue with Tehran practically on terms demanded by the mullahs.

And Hamilton built his position partly on Esfandiari's advice. The Woodrow Wilson Center has organized numerous workshops on Iran, but seldom invited regime opponents. Its guiding principle was that the Islamic Republic is what most Iranians want, and that America should help the "moderate faction" in Tehran.

Esfandiari's writings on Iran over three decades could be described as sympathetic to the Islamic revolution, although critical of some regime policies, especially on women's issues.

Soros, meanwhile, is an open opponent of Bush's policy on Iran. He has met a number of "moderate Khomeinists," indicating support for their faction. In 2004, he poured $15 million into support for Sen. John Kerry's presidential hopes. Soros would be the last person to want to overthrow the mullahs and hand Bush his biggest victory.

Both Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh have always denounced the anti-mullah opposition as nostalgia-stricken monarchists, residual leftists or worse. Both always refused to grant interviews to Iranian-opposition TV and radio shows beamed from Los Angeles, or to even the U.S.-funded Voice of America. Whatever the two were up to, they did not go to Iran to help liberate it from the Khomeinists.

Some have tried to pin the arrests on feuds within the regime. In this analysis, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his radical faction feared that the two Americans were looking to help the "moderate faction" (led by ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani) make a comeback in next year's general election.

Yet Esfandiari hasn't lived in Iran for more than 32 years; she hardly knows enough people to create a "network" for any conspiracy. Similarly, Tajbakhsh hasn't lived in Iran since his teens.

In fact, the two were easy prey for a predatory regime that, unsure of the popular mood, increasingly fears its own shadow. Their illegal arrest and inhuman treatment is part of a broader campaign by the radical revolutionary faction to terrorize its enemies inside Iran and confuse adversaries abroad.

* In recent weeks, some 150,000 women and young men have been arrested, fined, beaten up or kept in prison for days on charges of contravening the Islamic Dress Code enacted last May.

* A massive purge of the universities is under way, with thousands of students, teachers and faculty deans shown the door for allegedly "un-Islamic" sentiments. Over 400 students and teachers are reportedly held in various parts of the country without being charged.

* A state of emergency has been declared in parts of four western provinces, where ethnic minorities live, and in parts of the southeast bordering Pakistan.

* At least 30 trade unionists have been arrested and one of Iran's best-known labor leaders, Mansour Osanloo, abducted by agents of the regime. A news agency covering labor in Iran has been shut down and its assets seized.

* Dozens of newspapers and magazines have been shut and the black list of authors and books has been extended to include hundreds more names and titles.

* Several prominent figures of the rival faction, including a brother of ex-President Muhammad Khatami, face show trials on charges resembling those against Tajbakhsh and Esfandiari.

* Ahmadinejad's faction has also launched a campaign of blackmail against Rafsanjani and his entourage, including Khatami, by threatening to publish details of their alleged corruption and misuse of public funds between 1989 and 2005.

When Tajbakhsh and Esfandiari traveled to Iran a few months ago, they may have believed it would be just another visit to their former homeland. They didn't appreciate the fact that Ahmadinejad means what he says: His "second revolution" is preparing for war against the Iranian middle classes at home and the Western democracies abroad.

The episode underscores two facts: First, no dialogue is possible with a regime that demands nothing short of total submission at home and abroad. Second, the regime feels weak enough to fear a "velvet revolution" led by women, workers, students and, ultimately, even the more moderate clergy. Hmm . . . maybe someone will try it, even though the two captive Americans did not.
. And here is the rest of it.

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"In the Name of Democracy", Indeed!

The Confession that Wasn't!!!!

Kamangir, an Iranian blogger in Canada, has done a superb job of translating another Iranian blogger's post in Iran. The commentary encapsulates the reaction of mainstream Iranians to the recent propaganda piece aired on Iranian National TV. The program intended to convince the Iranians that the U.S. is trying, in the name of democracy, to topple the regime and often uses Iranian-Americans as agents of "Zionists" to achieve her goal. The so-called confessions by Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhash and Janhanegloo were so vague and lame that it only proved the ridiculousness of those who orchestrated this nonsensical drama. The program was not only a ruinous flop, it served to brutally shatter so many myths propagated by the IRI for the last 28 years. hahahaha(I'm gloating). Here is the entire thing swiped from Kamangir's blog:

Ten opposition televisions, accompanied by Voice of America, Radio Israel, BBC, etc were unable to carry out what the Islamic Republic television did to itself last night. What was shown clearly advocated for the American administration’s emphasis on spreading democracy and social institutions. The program, at the same time, demonstrated the Islamic Republic’s horror from the youth and the students and their efforts towards goals such as democracy. Nothing could have done all this better than the program the Islamic Republic aired, because of these reasons.

1- The Islamic Republic has been trying for twenty eight years to convince the people that “America cannot do anything”. What channel one showed last night, not only proved this sentence false, but also used several documents to prove that, if the American administration wants, they can overthrow a regime in two hours, as it happened in Kyrgyzstan.

2- Many Iranian do believe in conspiracy theory and have no doubt whatsoever that nothing happens in Iran unless the states and UK want so. The Islamic Republic has tried for twenty eight years to convince the nation that the Islamic Revolution was not an international conspiracy led by Jimmy Carter, as many Iranian think. They have tried to assign the revolution with Godly sources. The last night show utterly emphasized on the American role in toppling regimes and this strengthened the public belief in the importance of American policies. That also contradicted Ahmadinejad repeated claims for American deficiency.

3- What amazes me is that although the Islamic Republic calls itself a master And here is the rest of it.

UPDATE: Haleh Esfandiari's daughter has an op-ed piece in Washington Post, ""My Mother's Interrogators"; In an Iranian Propaganda Broadcast, the Real Guilty Party Is Clear""

UPDATE 1: Why is it that our MSM buy the official line of the corrupt IRI, scripted by MOIS and VEVAK, hook line and sinker? Can't they afford to hire a Persian Translator?

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Iran to make U.S. "regret" detention of Iranians-FM

TEHRAN, June 12 (Reuters) - Iran will make the United States "regret" its detention of five Iranians in Iraq since early this year, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday.
Iran says the five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January are diplomats and has demanded their release. U.S. officials say they were involved in supporting militants inside Iraq.

"We will make the Americans regret their ugly and illegal action against the Islamic Republic of Iran's consulate in Arbil, Iraq, and the abduction of the five Iranian diplomats," Mottaki said, according to the state broadcaster's Web site.

Is this the price for Haleh Esfandiari's and the rest of hostages' freedom?

Iran Says Judge to Decide Next Week on U.S.-Iranians

TEHRAN -- An Iranian judge will next week decide whether to indict or free three American-Iranians accused of acting against national security, a judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday. Alireza Jamshidi said preliminary investigations would be finalized in two or three days. "Next week the judge will decide whether to free them or to indict them," he added. Jamshidi denied that one of the detainees, academic Haleh Esfandiari, had been prevented from gaining access to her lawyer, Iranian Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi. "She (Ebadi) can come right now and take on the case," the judiciary spokesman told a news conference, after being asked to comment on Ebadi's statement on Monday that her client was unable to contact her.

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4 Americans Held Hostage in Iran!

Ali Shakeri


Bob Levinson



1. Dr. Haleh Esfandiari

2. Bob Levinson, ( Father of Seven Children who miss him terribly. Please visit http://helpboblevinson.spaces.live.com/)

3. Ali Shakeri (from The Center for Citizen Peace Building)

4. Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh

update 1: Amnesty International: The Iranian government is holding Iranian-Americans as pawns in its crackdown on local Iranian civil society. Intelligence agents are trying to force these detainees to make false confessions to incriminate the broader community of Iranian activists and scholars. --Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

update 2: Roxie asks if the Media can be trusted in this regard:

The story continues: Tuesday May 1, 2007, "Usually reliable Iranian sources say that detained American, Robert Levinson, was turned over to American officials in the last 24-hours.The Iranian source said that “He is no longer here. But because he was never ‘officially detained’ here, no one will say on the record that he has been released. I have again been told to be quiet and that he is definitely in the hands of his countrymen."

Press TV (the first international Iran-based news network to broadcast in English) reported May 3, 2007, “A former FBI agent the US government claimed had gone missing in the Iranian island of Kish has returned to his country amid news black out.”QUESTION: Since it is clear that Mr. Levinson was released the first of May, and since this is 24th of May, why have their been no stories about Mr. Levinson in the news concerning his time while “missing” in Iran? Is it as Iranian news states, "a news black out?" Does the lack of follow-up by both the Government and the news media leave American citizens wondering if they are being told the truth about world events?

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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.

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Iran:Shaul Bakhshi and the Imprisoned Dr. Haleh Esfandiari

A Comment by DADABASE was left on this thread about Freeing Dr. Haleh Esfandiari who was denied legal access yesterday by the IRI per Shirin Ebadi's [the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the lead attorney for imprisoned American scholar (Haleh Esfandiari a Potomac resident)] request. I'm posting this comment to shed some light on how the IRI thinks and operates.

The commenter accuses Mrs. Esfandiari's husband of being associated with Zionist Leaning Brooking Institute and what he calls "Islamophobic Saban Center". What I don't get is that even if hypothetically all of his allegations are true, why Mrs. Esfandiari is being held responsible. Here's the comment:

DADABASE said...so if these particular citations are lies, does that mean the rest of Kayhan's information are correct? for instance, did she convert to Judaism? IS Mr Bakhash aligned with Zionists in USA? what about his affiliation with the famous neoconservative and Zionist leaning Brooking institute and its notoriously Islamophobic Saban center?According to numerous credible sources, Bakhash'sresume does include working for Kayhan before the revolution.

In his work, Mr Bakhash has shown his disdain for the current Iranian government by advocating a soft form of regime change through emboldening certain political figures inside Iran.

This is precisely the charges that have been discussed among those who argue in Iranian favour of arresting Esfandiari. Paper after paper, lecture after lecture, the soft regime change strategy becomes more highlighted in regards to the kind of Iran Mr Bakhash would like to see emerged.

Here is a direct quote from Mr Bakhash: "The Israeli government has been particularly worried about Iran's growing nuclear potential, especially in light of recent calls by Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for Israel to be "wiped off the map."Numerous sources have already refuted this "fact" by pointing out to the distortion of Ahmadineghad's language in the biased translations provided by the friends of Israel. Doesn't Mr. Bakhash's words sound like the cloned version of Bush, Cheney, Hagee (an evangelical figure), Olmert and Natanyahou's rhetorics? In the absence of an honest Zionist political party in America, what else can demonstrate one's political leaning but his own words? 2:25 AM

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The Difference!

Sheema: The difference between some one like Haleh Esfandiari and Sheema Kalbasi (I) is that I see the Iranian regime as a group of people who have committed and continue to commit horrendous crimes against humanity. People like Dr. Esfandiari -- who I hope will return to the U.S. safe and sound especially since Keyhan has accused her of apostasy-- do support a dialogue with the Iranian regime. I like to know why Ms. Esfandiari’s husband is devastated over his wife’s arrest and why he doesn’t try to engage in a dialogue with the Iranian regime. Why Shaul Bakhash goes on BBC to confirm that Esfandiari is still a Muslim. After all Ms. Esfandiari and people like her insist on engaging in a dialogue with the Iranian regime.

So what if she is accused of apostasy! So what if women and men are stoned to death in Iran! So what if political activists and Bahaies are arrested and executed and the Bahai graveyards are destroyed, and they are not even allowed to bury their dead in adherence to their religious tradition. So what if Kurds are murdered and their dead body are shown throughout the town to teach a lesson! So what if Iranian women have no right to their children after divorce! So what if Iranian women don’t have equal opportunities, and so what if women activists, workers, and teachers are arrested! So what if intellectuals have been murdered and bloggers are arrested! Iranian regime is a regime that one can engage in a dialogue with.

I am sure once Dr. Esfandiari is back in the U.S. she will continue to work with her boss and this time her words and work will have more legitimacy since she will be that victim of the Iranian regime her self!! For people who have lost nothing and/or their countrymen and women’s arrests and executions has not influenced and effected their lives the Iranian regime is surly legitimize enough to engage in a talk with. They tend to show Ahmadinejad is the worst case Iran has ever had during the years Iran has been occupied by the regime. Let us not forget the Iranian regime is not a product of president Ahmadinejad. The Iranian regime has been in power for almost thirty years and Ahmadinejad is the product of this regime. I may be buying a lot of junk and a lot of junk may sit on my figure but this junk just doesn’t fit and sit right with me!! And let us thank the democratic candidate Ms. Clinton for bringing attention to Haleh’s case! I hope she will not forget the Iranian regime’s problem with Dr. Esfandiari is not her duel citizenship!

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Shaul Bakhash's Reply to False Accusation Reported in Iran's Kayahn (State-owned News Paper)

Endless untruths

Reply to Kayhan’s unfounded report on Haleh Esfandiari
Shaul Bakhash

May 14, 2007

iranian.com
On page one of the issue of Kayhan of 22 Ordibehesht,/5 May, 2007 a long article appeared under the title of “Documented Report by Kayhan: Who is Haleh Esfandiari”.
Although it is described as “documented,” this article is full of errors, lies and deliberate distortions. The writer does not even seem able to get the simplest facts right. A partial account of these inaccuracies follows: (Persian text)

It is untrue that Haleh Esfandiari and Shaul Bakhash worked for Israeli spy agencies; It is a lie that either Haleh Esfandiari or Shaul Bakhash is a Mossad spy It remains a lie no matter how many times Kayhan repeats it in its article.
Shaul Bakhash was not the editor of Kayhan International in the 1340s and 1350s.
Volume 17 of the Documents of the Nest of Spies does not say Shaul Bakhash is a good journalist “for America.” It just says he is a good journalist. Haleh Esfandiari and Shaul Bakhash are not Zionists.

It is untrue that Shaul Bakhash went to America “on a series of secret missions and training.” He went to Harvard University in America to study for his MA and then to Oxford University in England to continue his studies. He received his doctorate from Oxford University in 1972.
Haleh Esfandiari and her husband were not “introduced by the Mossad spy service” to Daryush Homayoun of Ayandehgan. Neither of them was involved with establishing the newspaper, ever worked for it or ever published anything in it. When Ayandegan was founded, they were not even in Iran.

It is untrue that Haleh Esfandiari “fled to Israel in August 1979.” She had left from Iran for England many months before that. Haleh Esfandiari has never lived or even set foot in Israel
Shaul Bakhash’s book on the Iranian revolution was published in 1984, not in 1982. The publication, Rah-e Zendegi, could therefore not have published pages from the book in its issue of Jan-Feb. 1983.

Nowhere in this book does Shaul Bakhash say or even suggest the Islamic Republic will collapse in the near future.

It is untrue that Haleh Esfandiari “returned from Israel to America” in the years of the imposed war because she was never in Israel.

It is untrue that Haleh Esfandiari established the “Iran section” of the “official Israeli lobby” in the U, S. because she has never worked for the Israeli lobby.

It is untrue that Haleh Esfandiari was head of the “Iran chamber” of AIPAC.

Haleh Esfandiari never organized even one, let alone “various seminars” for AIPAC

Haleh Esfandiari was not responsible for organizing a 2004 AIPAC conference on Iran’s nuclear programs.

She never invited George Bush, Ehud Olmert, Hillary Clinton, John Bolton, Condolezza Rice and others to speak at an AIPAC gathering or to any other gathering.

This meeting, to which Kayhan refers, could not constitute high point of Haleh Esfandiari’s activities for the Israelis” because she never organized it, took part in it, or knows anything about it.

Haleh Esfandiari therefore had nothing to do with any workshop organized as part of this conference.

Contrary to the claim of the Kayhan writer, the programs of the Woodrow Wilson Center, including those organized by Haleh Esfandiari, were not drawn up at the recommendation of AIPAC. The ultimate aim of the programs Haleh Esfandiari organized were not aimed at “revolution from within.” The Woodrow Wilson Center’s programs are not determined by AIPAC.

The five Iraqi women who participated in a 2005 conference with Haleh Esfandiari were not “supporters of the occupier”. They were Iraqi women looking for ways to reconstruct of their country. Reconstructing Iraq was the subject of the conference. It is shameful for the author of the Kayhan articdle to talk in this way of patriotic Iraqi women whom the writer of the Kayhan article does not know and has never even met. .

It is a false and hollow accudation that Haleh Esfandiari is one of the “principle instruments” of Israel, or a Mossad spy service, in advancing the strategy of a “velvet revolution” in Iran.

It is a lie that Haleh Esfandiari had “undercover assignments” or that she was one of the “media spies” in Iran. She had no part in setting up a “communications network” between Dubai and America.

Haleh Esfandiari had nothing to do with Radio Farda or Ruz-on-Line [an Iranian website], or with recruiting journalists to work in Prague.

These accusations are fantasies and are untrue. They are all the Kayhan writer’s shameful fabrications. The list of Kayhan’s dishonest representations are endless, but I will stop here.
It is regretful that Kayhan, one of Iran’s two oldest newspapers still being published and with a long and distinguised history, should allow so much untruth to appear on its pages. (Persian text)

Shaul Bakhash is Clarence J. Robinson Professor of History at George Mason University, Virginia. He is married to Haleh Esfandiari.

Please Sign the Petition below to Free Dr. Haleh Esfandiari

Sign the the petition to the Government of Iran to Free Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Iranian-American Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars by clicking HERE.

Update1: Senator Joseph Lieberman, meanwhile, said Esfandiari had been "inexplicably and inexcusably imprisoned."

Update 2: Letter Writing Campaign:
We have now launched a letter-writing campaign calling for the release of Dr. Esfandiari from Evin Prison. It is easy for you to join in. Simply go to the letter-writing site, edit the draft letter to Iranian government officials, and submit the text. Our system will deliver your letter and add your name to a list of people petitioning Iranian authorities.
The purpose of the letter/petition campaign is to deliver individual messages and to demonstrate an outpouring of grassroots support. Already, over 200 people have sent letters. Join the campaign - send a letter for Haleh.

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Haleh Esfandiari is Branded as a Zionist Agent by the IR's Kayhan Newspaper

PBS: Haleh Esfandiari

Iran-American academic Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, was taken into custody Dec. 30 during a visit to Iran and interrogated for months. On Tuesday, she was arrested and sent to Tehran's Evin prison.
Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, president of the Wilson Center, and Karim Sadjadpour, head of the Iran initiative at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, talked about her case last night on PBS. You can listen to it: RealAudio MP3

She has been branded by the State-owned Newspaper, as the Agent of Zionists.

I was informed by an anonymous reader, that Mrs. Haleh Esfandiari is not an ex-Muslim. This has been apparently a lie published in Kayhan newspaper to villify her further in Iran's jihadsphere public opinion arena . Here is what 'anonymous' said:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post

It is not, in fact, true that Dr. Esfandiari is "an ex-muslim who converted to judaism." While it is certainly the case that her husband is Jewish, Dr. Esfandiari has never converted. This claim of Kayhan's is as spurious as the rest of its accusations; the blogosphere repeating it uncritically is not going to do her any good!

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Tehran Jails Iranian American Scholar After Long House Arrest

Washington Post:

Iran yesterday detained prominent American academic Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, according to center president and director Lee H. Hamilton and Esfandiari's husband.

Esfandiari, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who has lived in the United States for more than a quarter-century, has been under virtual house arrest since last December, when the government refused to allow her to leave Iran after visiting her 93-year-old mother. Since then, she has been summoned repeatedly for interrogations by intelligence officials about U.S. programs on Iran. In particular, she was questioned about Iran programs at the Wilson Center, one of Washington's most prominent foreign policy think tanks.

Esfandiari was summoned by the intelligence ministry again yesterday but was then taken to Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, the sources said.
Esfandiari is one of three "soft hostages," all dual U.S.-Iranian nationals, whose passports have been confiscated by the Iranian government, rendering them unable to leave the country.
The United States has not faced such tension over Americans held in Iran since the 1979-1981 hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held for 444 days. Until Esfandiari' s detention yesterday, the Wilson Center and her family had sought to avoid publicity in hopes that she would be granted a new passport.

Esfandiari and the other soft hostages appear caught up in an Iranian reaction to the Bush administration's $75 million program to promote democracy in Iran, which was unveiled last year. Tehran has since cracked down on human rights advocates, labor groups and women's rights campaigners, according to human rights activists.

"The government's justification for these actions is usually couched as a response to the State Department's announcement to provide financial support to Iranian civil society and nongovernment organizations," said Hadi Ghaemi of Human Rights Watch. "This has fueled a perception among the Iranian politicians that the U.S. is committed to instigating a 'velvet revolution' in Iran.

Ironically, the Iranian Americans who travel to Iran mostly stay away from politics and are not by any means part of the 'regime change' advocates. But they have become pawns in the hands of Iranian government as it charts its strategy in engaging with the U.S."

During her interrogations, Esfandiari was pressured to make false confessions or to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in activities in which it had no role, Hamilton said. Esfandiari was contacted again a few days ago and asked to "cooperate" with intelligence ministry officials, which she refused. On Monday she was told to report to the Ministry of Intelligence again. When she arrived yesterday, she was taken to Evin Prison. It is unclear whether she has been formally charged with any offense.
Hamilton, a former congressman and Iraq Study Group co-chairman, wrote Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Feb. 20 appealing for Esfandiari to be allowed to leave. "I said the Wilson Center did not receive any money from the U.S. government for the purpose of trying to influence or to determine specific policies or direction of the Iranian government," Hamilton said in an interview yesterday. "We've been very transparent about our dealings. . . . We have offered a wide array of viewpoints. That's our role."
In a subsequent conference call with reporters, he added, "The interrogators could have gotten all the information with a few clicks on the Wilson Center Web site."

Hamilton's Iraq Study Group report in December urged the Bush administration to deal with Tehran on the issue of Iraq. "It is our view that in diplomacy, a nation can and should engage its adversaries and enemies to try to resolve conflicts and differences," the report said. "Diplomatic talks should be extensive and substantive." The Wilson Center did not receive a response from the Iranian president's office.

Esfandiari has brought in many scholars and analysts from Tehran to speak at the Wilson Center, one of the few places in Washington to offer a robust range of opinions on Iran. "The irony is, in Washington she faced criticism for bringing in people who were sympathetic to the Iranian government," said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "By detaining her the Iranian government only eliminates an advocate for diplomacy and strengthens the voices of those in Washington who say the regime is cruel and should not be engaged."

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