Iran does the right thing

[Botnst]

Iran frees detained US academic
Haleh Esfandiari is one of the leading US authorities on Iran
BBC

A leading Iranian-American academic jailed in May during a visit to Tehran has been freed on bail, the official state news agency Isna has reported. Detained on security-related charges, Haleh Esfandiari, 67, was released for a bail of 3bn rial ($320,000; £160,000), according to Isna.

Ms Esfandiari, who works for a research institute in Washington, was jailed while visiting her 93-year-old mother.

The development comes amid ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.

A spokesman for the US National Security Council welcomed the academic's release.

'Spying'

In December, while on her way to the airport to return to the US, Ms Esfandiari's taxi was stopped by three men who stole her belongings, including her Iranian and US passports.

When she went to replace her passport, she was sent to the intelligence ministry, where she was repeatedly questioned about her work as the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington.

In May, after being repeatedly prevented from leaving Iran, she was taken to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, the Woodrow Wilson Centre said.

Iranian media accused her of spying for the US and Israel.

'Coerced'

Her husband spoke from the US of his relief at her release.

Shaul Bakhash told the Associated Press news agency from his Maryland home: "I feel extremely good.

"It has been a very anxious several months. Now we hope she will not only be released from prison but allowed to come back home."

Last month, Iranian television broadcast a programme in which Ms Esfandiari apparently said a network of foreign activists were plotting to overthrow the Iranian government.

But the Woodrow Wilson Centre said the statement had been "coerced".

Another Iranian-American academic, Kian Tajbakhsh, who appeared in the same broadcast, is thought to remain in prison in Iran.

The BBC's Pam O'Toole says the Iranian authorities appear highly suspicious of attempts by the Bush administration to promote democratic change in Iran.