We will continue to update this site and the media page as long as Kian’s situation remains unclear. Recent news includes:
The terms of Kian’s bail appear to restrict his freedom of movement. He remains in Tehran and we do not know if or when he will be able to travel.
Ali Shakeri has been released on bail from Evin Prison and is with […]
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OSI has issued a statement about Kian’s release:
NEW YORK— The Open Society Institute is relieved that Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh has been allowed to leave Evin Prison and be reunited with his wife in Tehran.
It is our hope that the ordeal for this distinguished scholar and his family has finally come to a close.
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We have just received word that Kian has been released from Evin Prison. He is finally at home with his wife. We will post more information when we have details.
Thank you to all the people who have signed the petition and sent messages of support.
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OSI has issued a further statement about the delaying of Kian’s promised release. The statement reads:
NEW YORK—The Open Society Institute calls for the immediate release of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, who remains in an Iranian prison despite numerous promises that he was to have been set free by now.
Dr. Tajbakhsh, a renowned Iranian-American scholar, has been detained in […]
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There has been another wave of media coverage surrounding Parnaz Azima’s release–stories that mention Kian are available on the Media Coverage page.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
A social scientist who specializes in urban planning, Tajbakhsh was detained in Tehran along with Esfandiari in May. Like Esfandiari, Tajbakhsh faces charges that include acting against Iran’s national […]
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Parnaz Azima has been permitted to leave Iran and fly to the United States. According to the Associated Press, the charges against her remain in place and her bail has not been returned.
Kian is still in prison, despite the many statements in the past few weeks indicating that he would be released soon.
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Haleh Esfandiari has written an op-ed for the Washington Post telling the story of her imprisonment. She mentioned the books and fruit she exchanged with Kian, and discusses the reasons she believes she was targeted:
The interrogators….took the trouble to explain their concerns about U.S. intentions in Iran — explanations that seemed to reflect Intelligence Ministry […]
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Iranian news agencies have reported that a bail of roughly $110,000 has been set for Kian, and that the terms of his bail will bar him from leaving the country without permission from the authorities. No date ofrelease was mentioned in the reports, and Kian remains in Evin Prison.
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Yesterday, The Washington Post carried an editorial titled “Left Behind in Iran“:
From the moment Haleh Esfandiari was arrested and imprisoned by the government of Iran in May, her friends in high places in Washington rallied to her defense and demanded that she be released. Most notable among them was former representative Lee H. Hamilton, president […]
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Kian was interviewed briefly by a group of reporters allowed to visit Evin Prison, and told them that he expects to be released soon. According to an AP report:
Iranian authorities invited media Tuesday to visit the Evin prison, notorious for conditions in which it holds political prisoners. During the tour, reporters were allowed to briefly […]
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Dr. Haleh Esfandiari gave a press conference yesterday at the Wilson Center and spoke about her time in Evin Prison. In this NPR story, she mentioned that although she did not see Kian in prison, he was able to send her books:
“We must have shared the same interrogator,” she said. “I saw the interrogator carrying […]
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Today marks the fourth month since Kian’s arrest. He has now been in Evin Prison for 124 days.
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The International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, for which Kian serves as a corresponding editor, has written a second letter to the Iranian authorities calling for his release. The full text of the letter is available below the fold.
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Chandana Mathur and Dermot Dix, friends of Kian’s, sent this clip filmed at their home in Ireland. In it, they speak about their long friendship with Kian and their dismay at his imprisonment.
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Dr. Ira Katznelson, the renowned Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University, served as Kian’s dissertation sponsor and has been a friend and colleague of his since. In this clip, Professor Katznelson speaks about Kian’s “luminous” intelligence, his devotion to academic inquiry, and his moral commitment to the Iranian people.
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Rasmia Kirmani, a doctoral candidate at the New School of Social Research, speaks in this clip about her memories of Kian and her hope that he will be released without delay.
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The BBC Persian service has a lengthy piece about Kian. A translation is available here at the ICGA blog. The article repeats the suggestion that Kian will be released on bail, but gives no further information about when that will occur:
State television of Iran quoted Hassan Hadad, prosecutor for the national security court in Tehran, reported […]
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The Open Society Institute released a new statement about Kian today. It calls for Kian’s immediate release, and says that Iranian government officials had promised his family that he would be freed by last week:
Dr. Tajbakhsh continues to be held in solitary detention despite claims from the Iranian government that his release is forthcoming. In […]
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Barnett R. Rubin of New York University has an excellent post about the detainees at the Informed Comment: Global Affairs blog. He writes,
According to the New York Times on August 23, a judge told Kian Tajbakhsh’s wife, Bahar Malek, that he would be released in 10 to 15 days (between September 2 and 7) so that he […]
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Haleh Esfandiari has been allowed to leave Iran and is now recuperating in Austria with her family. We are deeply glad that she is free. The Washington Post carries an account of her imprisonment here. News reports also indicate that Parnaz Azima has been told that she will be allowed to leave Iran.
We are still awaiting […]
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In the wake of Haleh Esfandiari’s release, there has been an increase in media coverage about the detainees. Updated links to these stories can be found on the media coverage page.
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