The president of the Associatation for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS), an international scholarly organization, has written the following letter to President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to request Kian’s release:

Over a month and a half has passed since the detention of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, a distinguished member of this Association, and nothing has been done to end his imprisonment and free him, despite worldwide protests from renowned academics and international scholarly and cultural associations.

Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh is a well-known authority in development and urban planning whose international reputation in the field has been attested by the Research Committee on Urban and Regional Development of the International Sociological Association in its letter of protest dated 5 June, 2007. He has been a member of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies for a number of years, and organized the session on “Urban Sociology in Iran” at our Second Biennial Convention in Yerevan, Armenia, in April 2004. His important article, “Civil Society within the State? Production of Knowledge in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” was published in the last issue of our journal, Studies on Persianate Societies, 3 (2005/1384), pp. 119-137, and he was scheduled to present his paper on “Understanding the Institutions of Public Space in Contemporary Iran” at our Third Biennial Convention in Tblisi, Georgia, on June 10, 2007, but was unable to join us because of the inexcusable action of the Iranian government authorities in detaining him in breach of human rights conventions.

Considering that Your Excellency holds a doctorate in traffic and urban studies—a field in applied social sciences close to Dr. Tajbakhsh’s specialization—it may be redundant to underline the close link between the theoretical and practical aspects of these sciences and hence the importance of expert consultation in planning and policy. Nevertheless, given the nature of applied social sciences, I must point out that what the judiciary authorities have given the media as evidence of spying and endangering the national security by Dr. Tajbakhsh is all entirely in conformity with internationally accepted professional standards, falls within routine scientific consultation in applied social sciences, and is vitally necessary for the progress of policy-oriented research. The inappropriate political logic used by the judiciary authorities to justify this illegal detention and violation of human rights will jeopardize the future of policy oriented applied social scientific research in Iran. If the judiciary authorities were really concerned with the violation of internationally recognized standards by this social scientist in his consultation for the World Bank and private charitable foundations, they should have sought expert testimony from appropriate international scientific organizations.

Allow me to repeat that nothing so far offered as proof of activities against the national security and espionage by Dr. Tajbakhsh shows the slightest deviation from the recognized standards of consultation in applied social sciences. As I pointed out in my letter of protest to your predecessor against the arrest and trial of Messrs Abbas Abdi, Behruz Geranpaya, and Hossein Qazian (directors of the Institutes of Ayandeh [Future] and Afkar-e `Omumi [Public Opinion]), dated 13 December, 2002, the suppression of research in applied social sciences through abuse of judiciary power and the intimidation of researchers and scholars– over and above the more obvious and serious violation of the constitutional rights of the individuals concerned– hampers the future progress of research in the social sciences whose promotion is among the primary goals of our Association.

At the meeting of the representatives of the ASPS Regional Councils during the Tblisi Convention, the representatives of Armenia, Tajikistan, Georgia, India, Pakistan, Europe and the United States unanimously protested the detention of our colleague, Dr. Tajbakhsh, and authorized me to convey their protest to you, and to demand his immediate release from Your Excellency.

The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies requests the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to free Dr. Tajbakhsh immediately, and expects that, by doing so in pursuit of Iran’s national interests, they forestall further international isolation of the country and renewal of the excuse for warmongering against Iran by American rightist groups.

Respectfully submitted,

Saïd Amir Arjomand
President,
Association for the Study of Persianate Societies