U.S. academic held in Iran for crimes against Iran

[AliceInWonderland]

U.S. academic held in Iran
Story Highlights
• Dual American-Iranian citizen held for "crimes against national security"
• Haleh Esfandiari is a program director based in Washington
• Esfandiari was visiting her mother and lost her passports
• She could face the death penalty if convicted

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- A U.S.-based academic -- and dual American-Iranian citizen -- is being investigated for "crimes against national security" after she was arrested in Tehran last week by the Intelligence Ministry, Iranian judiciary officials said Tuesday.

Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the U.S. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Middle East program, was arrested on May 8 and taken to Tehran's Evin prison, the center and her family said last week.

The arrest took place at a time of rising tension between Washington and Tehran over Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at making atom bombs, and the conflict in Iraq.

"She is right now under the authority of the Intelligence Ministry," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters.

"Her crime is security issues, investigations over crimes against security are still going on," he said.

Jamshidi did not give details but a judiciary source later told Reuters Esfandiari was suspected of "crimes against national security," a broad legal term covering acts deemed to endanger the stability of the Islamic state.

Terrorism, spying, political unrest and assassination attempts are examples of crimes falling within this category under Iranian law. The charge could carry the death sentence.

The U.S. State Department has condemned the arrest of Esfandiari, who has dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, and said she was among a number of U.S.-Iranians being detained by Tehran.

Last week's statement from the center and her family also said she needed medical attention but did not say why.

Esfandiari flew to Tehran in December to visit her mother. As she drove to the airport to catch a flight back she was robbed of her belongings, including her passports, it said.

She applied for replacement Iranian travel documents and was interviewed by the Intelligence Ministry. There then followed weeks of interrogations focusing on her work for the center, it said.

The center's president, former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, sent a letter in February to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad explaining the work of the organization and seeking his help in securing Esfandiari's return to the United States.

Hamilton was the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group which last year issued recommendations for ending the violence in Iraq, including engaging with longtime U.S. foe Iran.

The center's Middle East program focuses on the political, social and economic developments in the region and examines U.S. interests in the region and the threat of terrorism.

U.S. officials believe Tehran may also be holding former FBI official Robert Levinson, who went missing early in March while on a visit to the Iranian island of Kish. Iran has denied this.

Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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U.S. academic*held in Iran - CNN.com

Iran scares me and basically we're their bitch.

[KrisNine]

This is why my boyfriend is never allowed to go back...EVER!!!! Or at least, over my dead body!!

[AliceInWonderland]

omg yeah i would never let him either if i were you; way too scary and apparantly its life or death

[darksithbunny]

So....what do you think we should do about it? Iran in general that is.

[AliceInWonderland]

well we can't go to war b/c all out troops are fighting the "war on terrorism" in other countries" and I think we should get off oil so we don't have to bend over backwards and take it in the ass

[KrisNine]

Me? I don't know. Iran is an unusual place. This is a stable country (by middle eastern standards), full of very educated people, run by a little tyrant that likes to stir up shit. I think he can be a very dangerous man.

[darksithbunny]

Kinda sounds like most countries when you think about it.

[KrisNine]

It does, doesn't it?

[SVZ]

Kinda sounds like most countries when you think about it.

Yeah, I was going to say this. The US is doing the same thing.

[KrisNine]

My boyfriend has a lot of family that still lives there. For years, I remember being so impressed with how modern and educated all of his female relatives were. They weren't these women that hid out under their scarves waiting on their husbands hand and foot. They were funny. When they would talk about Tehran, they would say how nice and modern it was. That the scarf was not like a Burka, it was a loose scarf that would cover the back of your head. They would wear that with a jacket and jeans. They only wore it in public, not at home. Now, things have changed in the last two years. Woman have to wear the hijab. The long black coat and head scarf. It's still not quite the burka, but it's one step closer. Women are losing their rights and fast.

[witchcurlgirl]

well we can't go to war b/c all out troops are fighting the "war on terrorism" in other countries" and I think we should get off oil so we don't have to bend over backwards and take it in the ass

Are you aware that the US does not use Iranian oil? Our suppliers are in order from top to bottom:
Canada
Mexico
Nigeria
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
Angola
Iraq
Algeria
Kuwait
Brazil
Russia
Ecuador
Colombia
Libya
Congo

And I'm not saying that they are right, but are you aware of why Iran feels the way they do about the US.

Try Googling "Shah Reza Pahlavi".....

We need to change the things that make the world feel the way they do about us....Not just expect everyone to eat our shit and like it

[Grimmlok]

During the revolution (deposition of the US imposed Shah) the Iranians snapped up all the US drilling platforms that were operating in the area and effectively nationalized them. North America doesn't get Iranian oil because they've been pissy ever since.

BushCo. however, now has its hands directly in Iraqi oil, and it's been privatized up the wazoo by US conglomerates. BushCo is gonna take out Iran just to keep that shit safe.

[McJag]

BushCo. however, now has its hands directly in Iraqi oil,

Right-that why our gas prices are so LOW,Grimm! NOT!

[Grimmlok]

Right-that why our gas prices are so LOW,Grimm! NOT!

... uhhuh, let me explain it more simply:

1) BushCo has control of Iraqi oil. Bush and family are an oil dynasty. heck, they were friends with ol Saddam back in the 80's.

2) Whythe hell would you think that US control of oil would mean LOWER prices. Do Oil dynasty families WANT lower prices? Lower prices mean LESS PROFIT.

3) Bush is threatening to veto a bill designed to control gas prices! IMAGINE THAT.