Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico
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| Wilson Urges Iran to Release Woodrow Wilson Scholar, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari |
May 21, 2007 |
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Albuquerque, NM – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today released the following letter to Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the United Nations urging the immediate release of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari. Dr. Esfandiari is Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
May 15, 2007
Dr. Mohammed Javad Zarif
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran
United Nations
1 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
“I am writing to express my concern for the welfare of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, an American citizen and a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. There is no reason for the government of Iran to have detained Dr. Esfandiari. She should be immediately released and allowed to return to the United States.
I recently spoke with Lee Hamilton, the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and he informs me that Dr. Esfandiari has worked tirelessly at providing an unbiased view of Iran by bringing in speakers to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Some of these speakers are critical of the current government in Iran and some are not. Dr. Esfandiari is a scholar and director of the Middle East Program at one of America’s preeminent institutions of international studies.
Dr. Esfandiari’s case is the most prominent recent case of unjustified detention, but not the only one. In January 2007 the government of Iran confiscated the passport of Radio Farda journalist Parnaz Azima and has interrogated and detained her against her will.
The deliberate detention of American citizens by the government of Iran in retaliation for the U.S. Government’s support for human rights in Iran only serves to prove to the international community and to the Iranian people that the government of Iran engages in hostage-taking and is flouting the rule of law. Perpetuating, this perception is clearly not in Iran’s national interests. Dr. Esfandiari and other Americans being detained by Iran should be immediately released and allowed to return to the United States.”
Sincerely,
Heather Wilson
Member of Congress
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