Esha Momeni was driving on Tehran‘s main expressway, the Modarres highway, on Oct. 15 when she was stopped by Iranian authorities. She hasn’t been seen in public since.
“What we’ve been told is that initially she was pulled over for what they first say was a traffic violation, but she was taken to the prison where they held political prisoners, so clearly that’s not what this was about,” says Melissa Wall, one of Momeni’s professors at California State University Northridge.
Wall says the 28-year-old Iranian-American woman, who was born in Los Angeles, went to Iran on a mission.
“She was working on her master’s thesis project, collecting video interviews with women involved in the women’s movement in Iran. It’s a very scholarly project and it requires a whole lot of background research, and she was very deeply engaged with this issue.”
Wall says Momeni was well aware of the risk.
“The faculty did discourage her from going back.”
Momemi was not scared to return, primarily because she was very familiar with Iran.
“She has a dual citizenship. So for her it’s a trip home to see her parents and to do this work. So it wasn’t like she was going to a foreign country. She has a foot in both worlds. And in part the project was, I think, an attempt to sort of bridge those two worlds and help us see Iranian women,” says Wall.
A small army of students, professors and concerned citizens from the Iranian-American community and beyond has mobilized to secure her release.
“We have put out a statement calling for the authorities in Iran to respect and safeguard her rights, her safety and security, as well as all other Iranian-Americans who travel to Iran,” says Babak Hoghooghi, executive director of Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA).
“We have also called on the authorities in Iran to make every effort to bring her case to an expeditious resolution.”
Since her arrest three weeks ago, Momeni’s family and friends have started a blog called “For Esha,” as well as launching several petition drives to secure her release. Hassan Hussain, a close friend of Esha, says the situation is very troubling.
“Our one concern is why they detained her in the first place when she has done nothing illegal, and second is the fact that we don’t have any information from her. They don’t give her access to the outside world for us to be able to ensure that she is well.”
The situation is compounded by the strained and complex relationship between the U.S. and Iranian governments, says Hussain.
“We want to make sure that people like Esha, who have really no political agenda and only wanted to force the dialogue between the two societies, don’t get caught up in that process.”
The U.S. has no official presence in Iran and will likely call upon the Swiss government, which has represented the U.S. on certain issues inside Iran.
“We’re seeking additional information about this case. We stand with all those in Iran who are working for universal human rights and justice in their countries,” says Deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood.
This is not the first time that an Iranian-American has been detained under less than clear circumstances in Iran.
On Jan. 25, 2007, Parnaz Azima went to Iran to see her mother who was in the hospital. At the airport in Tehran, her passport was confiscated, and she was instructed to see passport officials 10 days later to get it back.
It never happened.
She was held for months, and left wondering about her future.
She told WTOP at the time: “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow, what will happen. I feel that I’m under control. My lawyer says I have to wait until the court decides what will happen to me. The judge says it could take one or two years.”
She had been charged with trying to overthrow the government. Azima, a journalist for the U.S. funded Radio Farda, said the real reason she and the others were taken into custody was “to eliminate civil society activities.” Azima was held for more than a year under house arrest before being released.
During the same time frame, other Iranian-Americans -- Academics Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, and businessman Ali Shakeri were all imprisoned at Evin, a prison in Tehran for political activists, for many months. They were eventually all freed after back-channel negotiations with the Iranian government.
What the future holds for Esha is still up in the air, but her family and friends are not going to leave it to chance. They are pressing the U.S. government to secure her release. In order to show Esha is not forgotten, they are planning a candlelight vigil on Nov. 12.
