An update on Haleh Esfandiari

Today is Day 44 of incarceration for Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and an FP contributor, who was thrown into Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison in early May.  Esfandiari, along with at least three other Iranian-Americans, has been detained in Iran for allegedly plotting against ...

599867_070510_esfandiari5.jpg
599867_070510_esfandiari5.jpg

Today is Day 44 of incarceration for Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and an FP contributor, who was thrown into Tehran's infamous Evin Prison in early May.  Esfandiari, along with at least three other Iranian-Americans, has been detained in Iran for allegedly plotting against the Iranian government, an accusation that representatives for all the captives vehemently deny. Last week, a judiciary spokesperson in Iran gave the Wilson Center the impression that Esfandiari would either be indicted or released within three days. But nothing has happened yet.

Today is Day 44 of incarceration for Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and an FP contributor, who was thrown into Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison in early May.  Esfandiari, along with at least three other Iranian-Americans, has been detained in Iran for allegedly plotting against the Iranian government, an accusation that representatives for all the captives vehemently deny. Last week, a judiciary spokesperson in Iran gave the Wilson Center the impression that Esfandiari would either be indicted or released within three days. But nothing has happened yet.

In this week’s Seven Questions, FP talks to Shaul Bakhash, the husband of Esfandiari and a history professor at George Mason University, about his wife’s plight. For six weeks, no one has been able to see her, not even her attorney, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi. You can read the interview here

Christine Y. Chen is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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