Dr. Esfandiari, above, spoke to BC students about her internment in an Iranian prison.

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 fighting 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 floor 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 officer 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.”