Haleh Esfandiari Released

Haleh Esfandiari, the 67-year-old director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, had been jailed in Tehran’s Evin prison since early May after enduring months of intense interrogations. She was released after her elderly mother used the deed to her Tehran apartment to post bail, relatives said.

“I’m very happy. It was unexpected. I thank all those who made efforts to make it possible for me to go home,” Esfandiari told Iranian television. The footage showed her walking out of the prison and meeting family members in a car on a nearby street.

Mohammad Shadabi, an official at the Tehran prosecutor’s office, said Esfandiari had been released on $333,000 bail, but he could not say whether she would be allowed to leave Iran.

Here’s another report from AFP, complete with pictures of the released Esfandiari from Iranian state television.

For the background to this story, see: “Iran Charges Three Americans as Spies, Woodrow Wilson Center Scholar Among Them.”

Also, below is our June video report from a U.N. rally calling for Esfandiari’s release, where WPR Video Editor Aaron Ernst talked to Esfandiari’s daughter and husband: