Freed Scholar Recounts Iran Prison Ordeal

Esfandiari recalls determination not to 'succumb to despair'

By Caroline Zimmerman, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 10, 2007 12:15 PM CDT

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Freed Scholar Recounts Iran Prison Ordeal — ian Tajbakhsh, accusing them of endangering national security. Esfandiari described what appeared to be her activities as director of the Middle East program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. (AP Photo/IRIB) (Associated Press)

It took a daily routine for Haleh Esfandiari to stay level-headed during her 105-day stint in Iran's notorious Evin prison. The Iranian-American scholar paced her room for 3 to 4 hours a day, read, and wrote a book in her head to ward off depression. She was treated respectfully, but "a prison is a prison," she said upon returning to the US.

Esfandiari, 67, was detained at the end of a family visit in December and not released until last week. She attributes Tehran's interest to her job with a Washington think tank. "There is a concern among certain elements that the United States has planned some sort of Velvet Revolution in Iran," she told CNN. (More Haleh Esfandiari stories.)

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