III 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 214 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 24, 2007 Mr. Cardin (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Biden, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Coleman) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Calling upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari.

Whereas Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., holds dual citizenship in the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari taught Persian language and literature for many years at Princeton University, where she inspired untold numbers of students to study the rich Persian language and culture; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari is a resident of the State of Maryland and the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC (referred to in this preamble as the Wilson Center); Whereas, for the past decade, Dr. Esfandiari has traveled to Iran twice a year to visit her ailing 93-year-old mother; Whereas, in December 2006, on her return to the airport during her last visit to Iran, Dr. Esfandiari was robbed by 3 masked, knife-wielding men, who stole her travel documents, luggage, and other effects; Whereas, when Dr. Esfandiari attempted to obtain replacement travel documents in Iran, she was invited to an interview by a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari was interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence for hours on many days; Whereas the questioning of the Ministry of Intelligence focused on the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari answered all questions to the best of her ability, and the Wilson Center also provided extensive information to the Ministry in a good faith effort to aid Dr. Esfandiari; Whereas the harassment of Dr. Esfandiari increased, with her being awakened while napping to find 3 strange men standing at her bedroom door, one wielding a video camera, and later being pressured to make false confessions against herself and to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in activities in which it had no part; Whereas Lee Hamilton, former United States Representative and president of the Wilson Center, has written to the President of Iran to call his attention to Dr. Esfandiari’s dire situation; Whereas Mr. Hamilton repeated that the Wilson Center’s mission is to provide forums to exchange views and opinions and not to take positions on issues, nor try to influence specific outcomes; Whereas the lengthy interrogations of Dr. Esfandiari by the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran stopped on February 14, 2007, but she heard nothing for 10 weeks and was denied her passport; Whereas, on May 8, 2007, Dr. Esfandiari honored a summons to appear at the Ministry of Intelligence, whereby she was taken immediately to Evin prison, where she is currently being held; and Whereas the Ministry of Intelligence has implicated Dr. Esfandiari and the Wilson Center in advancing the alleged aim of the United States Government of supporting a soft revolution in Iran: Now, therefore, be it

That— (1)the Senate calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, replace her lost travel documents, and cease its harassment tactics; and (2)it is the sense of the Senate that— (A)the United States Government, through all appropriate diplomatic means and channels, should encourage the Government of Iran to release Dr. Esfandiari and offer her an apology; and (B)the United States should coordinate its response with its allies throughout the Middle East, other governments, and all appropriate international organizations.