Kian is Free, Sort Of

Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, one of the Iranian-Americans accused earlier this year of anti-regime activities, has been released from Evin Prison.

This is good news, so far as it goes. Two others who were freed have been permitted to leave the country. Thus far, it appears, Tajbakhsh is required to remain in Iran. The three should never have been arrested in the first place, and much of their treatment confirms the worst characterizations of the Iranian regime. But we can hope that the Iranian authorities are signaling their interest in cooling down the increasingly dangerous moves that play into the hands of American hard-liners looking for reasons to attack Iran.

The last Iranian-American in custody appears to be Ali Shakeri, a businessman who works with the Community Advisory Board of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding at the University of California, Irvine. He was apparently detained at the airport in May after visiting his elderly mother, who died during his stay. Iranian and U.S. officials have confirmed his detention, and his family has said that they received a phone call from him from his undisclosed place of detention. Iranian officials have said that his case is not related to the others, which may explain why he remains in detention.

On Saturday, Human Rights Watch rebuked the Iranian government for Shakeri's treatment and called for his immediate freedom: "It's outrageous that the Iranian government has held Ali Shakeri in solitary confinement for over four months. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should order his release immediately.”

Surely Ahmadinejad will be asked about the detentions when he answers questions at a forum at New York's Columbia University on Monday. For the third straight year, his New York visit, on the occasion of the annual U.N. General Assembly opening meeting, is generating a storm of controversy--not least over the question of whether his views questioning the Holocaust and Israel's right to exist as a state deserve a platform in the U.S. If he is allowed to speak, Ahmadinejad may even nudge O.J. out of the news.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo