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: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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