While on a family visit in
2007, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari was
imprisoned and forced to endure
eight months of detainment in
Iran. She recently came to Boston
College to share her experiences.
Dr. Esfandiari is the current
Director of the Middle East
Program at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars
and an Iranian intellectual who
has focused her life on studying
and fi ghting for women’s issues
among other
social and political
issues in
Iran.
The presentation
began
with an introduction
from
Boston College
political science
professor
Ali Banuazizi.
Dr. Esfandiari
took the fl oor and thanked those
who fought for her release. She
then progressed into the recount
of her detainment.
“My odyssey started on the
30th of December, 2006. I had
gone to Iran to visit my mother.
That week was a very normal
week. I said goodbye to her on the
30th. For those of you who know
Tehran, December is a month
when it snows. So, the roads were
snowy, it was dark and we headed
for the road at 1:30 AM,” Esfandiari
said. “Halfway through the
airport, we saw a car sort of tailing
us. Then, the car came and
pushed us to the side, we had to
stop, and within a second three
men carrying knives jumped out
of the car.”
Dr. Esfandiari dismissed this
initial incident as a typical robbery;
she was robbed of her plane
ticket and passport. Soon after,
she began the process of applying
for a new Iranian passport.
During the passport application
process, Dr. Esfandiari became
aware that something was wrong.
“The next day I went and
started applying for a new passport.
Within two to three days I
found out that this was not your
normal robbery,” Esfandiari said.
“I was asked to meet with a passport
offi cer whom turned out to
be a member of the Intelligence
Ministry, and the questions had
nothing to do with issuing a passport.”
The member of the Iranian
Intelligence Ministry questioned
Dr. Esfandiari as to her work with
the Wilson Center, her husband’s
work, her grandchildren’s names,
and so forth. The trouble only
snowballed afterwards.
“Then, I received a phone
call asking me to go to the Intelligence
Ministry. I became
alarmed and very frightened
for two reasons. Firstly, because
I knew that falling into their
clutches means there isn’t going
to be an end. Secondly, people
have gone into that building and
not come out.”
Dr. Esfandiari was then interrogated
about alleged anti-Iranian
government plans in which
the Iranian Intelligence Ministry
accused her of being involved. Dr.
Esfandiari endured eight months
of interrogations;
of these eight
months, she
spent 105 days at
Iran’s notorious
Evin prison.
“I got into
a car and they
took me to Evin
prison. I was
blindfolded and
led by a female
guard, a condition
that became
part of my daily life at Evin. I
must tell you that [being] blindfolded
is not only disorientating,
but it’s very humiliating. You are
dependent on someone else, just
like a child,” Esfandiari said.
“The woman guard took me
to my cell, and I heard the door
click shut, a quiet click for her, but
to me, a click that resounded like
thunder,” Dr. Haleh Esfandiari
said, as she recounted the details
of her incarceration in Iran to the
group of Boston College students
and faculty.
During her incarceration, Dr.
Esfandiari faced other degrading
acts. However, she stood strong.
“In prison, I decided that I wasn’t
going to succumb to despair. I
knew that I was much stronger
than they are, so I never showed
my emotion to them,” Esfandiari
said.
Iran’s Evin prison is notorious
for being the site of many tortures
and killings. However, Dr.
Esfandiari received no physical
harm. After the Intelligence Ministry
was unable to bring up any
evidence against Dr. Esfandiari,
she was released from Evin. She
remained at her mother’s house
for 10 days, then left.
“I sat on the plane waiting
for the take off,” Esfandiari said.
“When I heard that door click,
I knew that this time, it was the
sign of my freedom.”