Jailed Academics Shown on Iranian TV

Comment on reason for holding, stop short of confessing
By Heather McPherson,  Newser User
Posted Jul 19, 2007 4:30 AM CDT
Jailed Academics Shown on Iranian TV
Kian Tajbakhsh, a detained Iranian-American speaking in this image taken from TV during a TV interview at an unknown location in Iran that was aired in Iran on Monday July 16, 2007. Iranian state-run television on Monday showed footage for the first time of two of the four Iranian-Americans detained...   (Associated Press)

Iranian national TV aired interviews with two American-Iranians being held in Iran's notorious Evin prison under suspicion of being involved in a US-backed plot to stage a revolution. The show, entitled "In the Name of Democracy," juxtaposed the interviews with footage of other popular uprisings—implying that the US has similar plans for Iran.

Haleh Esfandiari, a Woodrow Wilson Center scholar, said her "job was to identify lecturers through contacting Iranians in America or contacting Iranian intellectuals when visiting Iran.  A network of these contacted speech-makers was created ... The main aim was to identify key figures ... and to connect them to the network."  Washington said any broadcast confessions have no legitimacy. (More Haleh Esfandiari stories.)

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