February 13, 2010
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Clinton writes colleagues of imprisoned Iranian American scholar
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told academic colleagues of an Iranian-American scholar imprisoned in Iran that espionage charges levelled against him are groundless, and that the U.S. government is using every diplomatic tool it has to gain his release.
In a letter, Clinton informed Columbia University colleagues that Kian Tajbakhsh has not been allowed to meet with Swiss diplomats who serve as the United States' diplomatic representatives in Iran, because Iran considers Tajbakhsh an Iranian citizen, though he holds both American and Iranian citizenships.
"The espionage charges leveled against Dr. Tajbakhsh are groundless," Clinton wrote, in the Feb. 1 letter. "The State Department is using every available diplomatic tool to achieve Dr. Tajbakhsh's release."
Kian Tajbakhsh's sentence has been reduced to five years from the 15 years he was originally sentenced to by an Iranian revolutionary court, for alleged "spying" and "political crimes," American academic friends of Tajbakhsh were told. Tajbakhsh earned his doctorate in urban studies from Columbia and was due to teach at Columbia University's architecture graduate school last fall.
Some 18 Columbia University faculty, including Journalism school dean Nicolas Lemann, veteran Iran NSC hand Gary Sick, Tanya Domi, and Iran scholar Hamid Dabashi, wrote Clinton last month urging her to keep Tajbakhsh's plight on the public radar.
"We gratefully urge your earlier statements made on Tajbakhsh's behalf," the Columbia University faculty wrote. "But given the chaotic and dangerous political and civil climate in Iran today, we respectfully request that you do everything possible to obtain Tajbakhsh's immediate release."
In addition to Tajbakhsh, the U.S. has also repeatedly asked Iranian authorities to release three Americans who were detained in July after accidentaly wandering across the border while hiking in northern Iraq, Sarah Shourd, Josh Pattel, and Shane Bauer, and for information on the fate of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who went missing after meeting with a contact on Kish Island in 2007.
Earlier this month, Iran released from Evin prison Ayatollah Khalaji, the father of Mehdi Khalaji, an Iran scholar at the Washington think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Mehdi Khalaji has advised vocal public advocacy on behalf of those detained in Iran, even though some families have tried to handle matters quietly out of concern publicity could complicate cases.
U.S. officials camped out all night Thursday in Geneva to sign up to speak first at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, at a scheduled review of Iran's human rights record, diplomats told POLITICO.
The U.S. delegation Monday will be led by Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner. John Limbert, the top State Department Iran official, spent the past week in Geneva doing advocacy in advance of the UN review of Iran's human rights situation.
--With Emily Canal.
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