Dr. Dariush Zahedi, an Iranian-born naturalized American and political science lecturer at UC Berkeley and Santa Clara University, has been in solitary confinement in one of Iran's most notorious prisons on charges of espionage since mid July of this year.
Iran's Information Ministry investigated the spying charges against Dr. Zahedi and found them to be groundless. Nonetheless, the case was referred to a judicial branch of the military intelligence because the Attorney General and the Revolutionary Court of Tehran did not accept the finding. Utter secrecy has surrounded Zahedi's case for more than three months. Mr. Mohsen Armin, the Deputy Chief of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Committee, was the first person in Iran to have recognized publicly that a Berkeley academician is in Iranian government custody without revealing Zahedis name.
What makes Dr. Zahedi's fate particularly worrisome is the fact that Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-born naturalized Canadian journalist, was killed from a blow to the head during interrogation in the same prison and around the same time Zahedi was arrested. Without prompt attention to his case from American academic institutions, the U.S. government, and the international community, Dr. Zahedi may end up with similar fate to that of Zahra Kazemi.
We are seeking to mobilize academic, public, and governmental support to secure the immediate release and safe return of Dr. Dariush Zahedi.
