Posted on 05/21/2007 6:56:49 PM PDT by nuconvert
American Scholar Is Charged in Iran
Tehran Accuses Her Of Seeking to Topple Ruling Establishment
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
May 22, 2007
Noted American scholar and Potomac resident Haleh Esfandiari has been charged with "seeking to topple the ruling Islamic establishment," Tehran's state-controlled television reported yesterday.
Esfandiari was charged with setting up a network that was working "against the sovereignty" of Iran, the government outlet said. "This is an American-designed model with an attractive appearance that seeks the soft-toppling of the country," state television reported, according to the Associated Press.
In a separate statement, Iran's intelligence ministry alleged that the 67-year-old grandmother, director of the Middle East program at the Smithsonian's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was involved in activities trying to foment a soft revolution.
The Wilson Center denied the allegations. "Haleh was not engaged in any activities to undermine any government, including the Iranian government. Nor does the Wilson Center engage in such activities. . . . There is not one scintilla of evidence to support these outrageous claims," said Lee H. Hamilton, Wilson Center director and co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, which in December urged U.S. engagement with Iran
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Boy, if only these charges were true. Sadly, they’re not.
Think she’ll expire in custody or have a show trial and expire.
Shows you what that's worth!
This woman apparently has dual US-Iranian citizenship. Are we going to do something to help her? It doesn't seem that way so far.
Hm........American scholar in Iran.
Without digging too deep, I can’t help but wonder if this is some Lib starting to figure out that the Iranians aren’t as great as her professor made them sound..
“Soft-toppling” is the liberal/left method, but it’s still sad. They’re probably going to slowly hang her from a construction crane to show her kicking around in front of an enormous mob of spectators.
She’s 67. She has been against the regime for decades.
” Are we going to do something to help her? It doesn’t seem that way so far.”
If only. What is needed is something like the massive Voice of America campaign leveled against the USSR. One can dream.
“Are we going to do something to help her? It doesn’t seem that way so far.”
I keep wondering that too. I also didn’t realize until today how elderly she is. This article doesn’t mention it, but she went to Iran to visit her mother, who is in her 90s.
There was a time when being an American citizen offered you some degree of protection. But those days are long gone, done in by Jimmy Carter in, ironically, Iran. I doubt that we’ll do anything to help her, although, as you suggest, at least a little media campaign would be nice.
“She’s 67. She has been against the regime for decades.”
She’s invited pro-regime Iranians to speak here.
She’s getting very little sympathy from anyone anti-regime (which includes me).
Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship. This woman travels to Iran on her Iranian passport. Anyone who does that is taking a risk. If she had travelled there as an American with her American passport, I doubt she’d have been detained.
She has a history of bringing pro-regime speakers to the U.S.. Maybe she thought that would make her immune to being detained, or maybe, as many feel, she’s actually been working for the regime.
She is a Soros funded agent. She deserves whatever she gets. No sympathy from me.
Yes, I read later that she’s funded by Soros (or her “think tank” is, at least).
Not just that, but done in by the State Department that views foreign nations and nationals of more importance than American citizens. The Iran debacle was just an egregious example of that.
“I doubt that we’ll do anything to help her, although, as you suggest, at least a little media campaign would be nice.”
We only send in the Marines to protect foreign Muslims now.
We aren’t supposed to either.
Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship? Sounds like the US set her up. Damn that Bush and his refusal to grant amnesty!
-uninformed liberal response....
Being against the regime doesn’t necessarily mean she’s conservative.
In fact, I would guess that since she traveled there using an Iranian passport while working for regime change is something only an uninformed lefty would even think of trying....
No it doesn’t or course; lots of expatriate Iranians are lefties, as that was a popular belief system for the Iranian intelligentsia for a couple of generations. I have met a few here in the US. It seems that most of these people emigrated in the 60’s-70’s, or were driven out or killed by the mullahs later.
Maybe this pro Iranian “scholar”, Haleh Esfandiari, will give up that Iranian 1/2 of her Citizenship now.
Don’t trade any thing for this one...she is getting the justice she deserves!
Maybe the stoopid Libs will want to attack IRAN now that one of their own has been captured...lol
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