Below are excerpts from some recent opinion pieces on Kian and the other Iranian-American detainees.  Follow the links to read the full articles.

“Our Family Hostage Crisis“, by Dr. Shaul Bakhash, New York Times:

IRAN’S judiciary says it expects to announce a decision this week or next in the case of my wife, Haleh Esfandiari, and two other Iranian-Americans, Kian Tajbakhsh and Ali Shakeri, who have been held in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin prison since early May. The fate of these detainees could be resolved by Iran’s government in a number of ways. Only one would be in the best interests of the Islamic Republic: the detainees should be freed and all charges dropped.

“Deafening Silence“, by Pamela Kilpadi, Daily Times (Pakistan):

The United States and Iran have not engaged in serious diplomatic dialogue since 1979. Officials on both sides tend to fill the communications gap by orchestrating headline events. Recently, Iran has detained American Iranian scholars dedicated to promoting dialogue and mutual understanding. Social scientist and urban planner Kian Tajbakhsh, one of the dual nationals currently detained at Evin Prison, is a close colleague and friend. Kian and I began working together over three years ago, when the political situation in Iran was much different from what it is today.

“Iran: Blowback,  Detainee-Style,” by Karen Greenberg, Asia Times:

The new American prisoners in Iran belong, in part, to a broader diplomatic game of chicken now raging between the two governments….The four are apparently behind bars at Tehran’s Evin Prison, notorious for its special wing for political prisoners and, among human-rights activists, for being the location of the lethal beating of a Canadian-Iranian journalist in 2003. Evin and other Iranian prisons are cited by Human Rights Watch for frequent torture and mistreatment of arrested Iranian dissidents.