The broadcast of the television “documentary” containing footage of Kian and Haleh has drawn swift condemnation.  Haleh Esfandiari’s daughter Haleh Bakhsh published this piece in the Washington Post about the program. She writes, in part:

It was obvious from the words she used that much of what my mother said was scripted. Some of the phrases that she and two other prisoners — Tajbakhsh and a man arrested last year who has since been released — are shown saying echo statements that Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has issued to describe their cases. Her statements, to me, sounded wooden — unnatural and coerced. But did she say anything incriminating? Certainly not.

What Iran’s security authorities, in their infinite wisdom, are presenting to the world and to their domestic audience is a doctored “interview” in which dishonest cutting and splicing unconvincingly attempt to make the most ordinary statement appear to be part of a great “conspiracy,” a harbinger of massive subversion.

….When the television program ended, I felt contempt for my mother’s jailers and interrogators. But I was filled with admiration for my mother. In hugely difficult circumstances, she preserved her dignity, held her head high and did not lie. She did not falsely implicate others. It is her jailers, I thought, who have to work in the dark, behind the closed doors of prison interrogation rooms. It is they who hide their faces, who try to manipulate public opinion by controlling the media, smearing reputations and dishonestly splicing film.

My mother has nothing to be ashamed of. They do.

The Open Society Institute and the Wilson Center both made further statements in response to the broadcast.

OSI’s statement, which can be seen in full here, said:

The Open Society Institute is deeply concerned over Iran’s use of deliberately contrived television footage of Iranian-American detainees Kian Tajbakhsh and Haleh Esfandiari. OSI is saddened by this abuse of their dignity, and disturbed by this attempt to deceive the Iranian public and the world about their activities and their current situation.

Dr. Tajbakhsh and Dr. Esfandiari have been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for more than two months without seeing a lawyer. Their appearance on Iranian television is clearly coerced. Any statements made under duress without access to legal counsel can be given no credence.

The Wilson Center’s statement begam:

The Woodrow Wilson Center remains emphatic that the recently broadcast video programs depicting alleged ‘confessions’ from Iranian-American detainees Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh are scripted, contrived, and completely without merit. In the video, both Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh are shown wearing civilian clothing, and in a domestic setting, when in reality both are being held captive in Tehran’s Evin prison, an institution notorious for its flagrant abuse of human rights.

The Center’s director Lee Hamilton also pointed out, “In the two segments Iranian TV produced as well as in the clips aired earlier advertising the two-part series, it is clear that statements were rehearsed again and again and that her comments were cobbled and spliced together. This is shameful. It cannot be considered a ‘confession’ by any stretch of the imagination.”

Human Rights Watch condemned Iran’s decision to broadcast the program. Joe Stork, HRW’s deputy Middle East director, said “Public ‘confessions’ of this kind are a shameful tactic used by oppressive governments around the world.”

Finally, a number of Iranian bloggers have responded to the “documentary” with disbelief and derision. This translated post by blogger Khashayar Kheirkhah said,

“[The detainees] were given such complex notes to read that I think many of the spectators did not make sense of it and the question for many was “what offense have these people committed?”….In conclusion, the first part of this useless television show was a horrible defeat for the Islamic Republic propaganda, or as they say in English, they shot themselves in the foot.”

On the Mideast Youth blog, Fariborz wrote,

“Most people don’t believe this TV show has something to say, only lies! We are familiar with this interrogation pattern activities in Iran that it works in following steps:
1. jailing innocent people
2. confining them
3. producing a framed or cobbled statement and confession

….
We condemn this totally false accusations and allegations against these people and we again ask the Iranian government to end this ordeal and let all detained dual-citizens return safely home.”