[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H5963-H5966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN TO RELEASE DR. HALEH ESFANDIARI
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 430) calling on the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 430
Whereas Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., holds dual citizenship in
the United States and 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, D.C. (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 now-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
three 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 summoned to an
interview by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence;
Whereas Dr. Esfandiari was interrogated by the Ministry of
Intelligence for seven to eight hours per day;
Whereas the questioning by 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 Lee Hamilton, former United States Representative
and president of the Wilson Center, has written to Iranian
leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 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 ten weeks and was denied her
passport;
Whereas, on May 7, 2007, Dr. Esfandiari was summoned to the
Ministry of Intelligence and taken immediately to Evin
prison, where she was arrested and is currently being held;
Whereas Iran's Intelligence Ministry has implicated Dr.
Esfandiari and the Wilson Center in advancing what it alleges
is the United States Government's aim of a ``soft
revolution'' in Iran;
Whereas Parnaz Azima holds dual citizenship in the United
States and Iran;
Whereas Ms. Azima is a journalist for Radio Farda;
Whereas the Iranian Government confiscated the passport of
Ms. Azima when she arrived in Iran to visit her ill mother in
January of 2007;
Whereas the Iranian authorities have interrogated Ms. Azima
on multiple occasions;
Whereas Ms. Azima's attorney was told in April 2007 that
she would be detained in Iran for at least two years or more;
Whereas social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh was arrested in
mid-May by Iranian security officials while consulting for
the Open Society Institute, which runs humanitarian programs
in Iran;
Whereas Mr. Tajbakhsh holds dual citizenship in the United
States and Iran;
Whereas Mr. Tajbakhsh was retained by the Open Society
Institute as a consultant to facilitate public health,
humanitarian assistance, and urban planning projects that
were undertaken openly and with the knowledge of the Iranian
Government;
Whereas on May 31, 2007, a State Department spokesman
announced that California businessman Ali Shakeri, who holds
dual citizenship in the United States and Iran, had been
arrested approximately ten days earlier;
Whereas Mr. Shakeri serves on the board of University of
California at Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, a
research institution that seeks to promote reconciliation and
sustainable peace in areas of international conflict;
Whereas Mr. Shakeri's arrest occurred as he sought to leave
the country after having visited his ill mother, who passed
away during his stay;
Whereas reports indicate that a fifth dual American-Iranian
citizen, who has thus far remained anonymous, has also been
imprisoned unjustly by Iranian authorities;
Whereas the Iranian Government has yet to produce evidence
of wrongdoing by any of these individuals to justify its
actions toward them; and
Whereas Dr. Esfandiari, Ms. Azima, and Mr. Tajbakhsh have
been charged with espionage and, if convicted, face
execution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That Iran should immediately and unconditionally
release dual Iranian-American citizens Dr. Haleh Esfandiari,
Ms. Parnaz Azima, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, Mr. Ali Shakeri, and a
fifth unnamed individual also being detained against his
will, replace their lost travel documents, cease its tactics
of harassment, and permit them to leave Iran.
Amend the title so as to read: A resolution ``calling for
Iran to immediately release five dual Iranian-American
citizens currently being held unjustly.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and
yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, just a few short months ago, a remarkably accomplished
Iranian American woman, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, made a decision that any
of us would make under a similar circumstance. Her 93-year-old mother
was failing and she needed to visit her in Tehran without delay. She
boarded a flight to Iran, completely unsuspecting of what would unfold.
After a visit with her ailing mother, Dr. Esfandiari reached the
Tehran airport. As one of the leading Middle East scholars in the
United States at the highly respected Woodrow Wilson Institute, she had
no reason to believe she was about to encounter trouble. But on
[[Page H5964]]
her way to the airport, she was attacked by plain-clothed, knife-
wielding thugs and her passport was stolen.
This was only the beginning of her nightmare. Iranian authorities
refused to grant her a new passport. She was interrogated and put under
house arrest. She was told she would not return to the United States.
And the ordeal grew worse. Dr. Esfandiari, a slender woman of 67 years,
has been detained without just cause ever since, under the outlandish
pretense of being an enemy of Iran. And, ominously, late last month she
was formally charged with espionage.
She now sits in Iran's notorious Evin Prison. She has been allowed to
make but a few painfully brief phone calls to her family. She has been
interrogated at excruciating length. At the height of absurdity, she
has been pressured to acknowledge participation in some kind of alleged
coup against the Iranian government. This type of effort at forced
confession is beyond absurd. It goes to the heart of the injustice of
the Iranian regime.
Despite quiet initiatives of diplomacy undertaken by many countries,
organizations, and individuals on Dr. Esfandiari's behalf and
frustrated by her audacious commitment to the truth, the Iranian
security services have done what they know best, and that is arrest
without cause.
In discussing Dr. Esfandiari's case, news articles have also cited at
least four other cases of dual Iranian American citizens deplorably
being detained in Iran for no justifiable reason. It is particularly
worrisome that two of these detainees, like Dr. Esfandiari, have now
been charged with espionage.
{time} 1645
Oddly enough, what all of these five seem to have in common is a
commitment to U.S.-Iranian engagement. The government of Iran has
unjustly detained five American citizens without due legal process. And
Mr. Van Hollen's resolution today aptly expresses the serious concern
we have on their behalf and our justifiable demand that they be
released without delay. These outrageous arrests are indicative of the
blatant excesses and obvious shortcomings of the Iranian political
system, too much tyranny and too little rule of law. This is a matter
of basic human rights, and we cannot allow the Iranian government to
continue trampling on the fundamental liberties of our citizens in this
manner.
Ten Iranian parliamentarians have recently formed a Parliamentarian
American friendship group. I call on these parliamentarians and all
Iranians of good will, all people of good will, to use whatever
influence they have to help bring about the immediate release of all
American citizens in Iran who are held so unjustly and against their
will.
I commend my friend and colleague from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) for
introducing this important measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 430, which
decries the unlawful imprisonment of dual U.S.-Iranian citizens by the
regime in Tehran. As this resolution illustrates, Iranian intelligence
officials have unlawfully detained, interrogated and imprisoned
numerous dual U.S.-Iranian citizens, in particular Dr. Haleh
Esfandiari, who works for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars.
The Iranian government incarcerated Dr. Esfandiari in Evin Prison in
Tehran on May 9 of this year. However, as I noted, this is not an
isolated incident by any means. The Iranian government also confiscated
the passport of Radio Farda journalist Parnaz Azima, an American
citizen, when she arrived in Iran to visit her ill mother in January
earlier this year.
Iranian government officials have interrogated Ms. Azima and
pressured her to collaborate with Iranian intelligence. Iran has also
imprisoned a consultant for the Open Society Institute and a fourth
American citizen who has chosen to remain anonymous and who has been
unlawfully detained in Iran for 6 months.
Mr. Speaker, this cannot stand. The Iranian government's recent
actions are particularly egregious in light of that regime's past
involvement in the killing of Americans and its past incitement and
support of the taking of 66 American citizens hostages at the U.S.
embassy in Tehran on February 4, 1979, with 52 of those Americans held
in captivity for 444 days.
In response, we must remain resolute in our condemnation of the
Iranian regime for detaining innocent American citizens for political
purposes and demand that the Iranian regime immediately and
unconditionally permit all American citizens detained in Iran against
their will to leave.
These threatening actions by the Iranian regime come amidst Tehran's
ongoing support for Islamic militants in Iraq that are killing Iraqis
and Americans alike, its arming and support for Hezbollah in Lebanon
and Hamas in Gaza and its continued pursuit of nuclear capability in
contempt of international demands that it suspend its enrichment
activities. I therefore believe that the United States should suspend
all contact with any agent, instrumentality or representative of the
Iranian regime until Americans held hostage by Iran are released and
other issues critical to the United States are addressed.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), the author of the resolution.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Tennessee (Mr.
Tanner) for his leadership on the Foreign Affairs Committee and for our
national security interests around the world, and I thank the chairman
of the committee, Mr. Lantos, and the ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen,
for their bipartisan support in sending a strong message to the
government of Iran that their actions are absolutely unacceptable and
to pass this legislation to immediately and unconditionally release the
Americans of Iranian descent that are being held by the government of
Iran.
It was on May 30 of 2007, just a few weeks ago, the day after
Washington and Tehran held their high profile talks with respect to
Iraq that Iran turned around and charged three Iranian Americans, one
academic, Haleh Esfandiari, a social scientist, Kian Tajbakhsh, and a
journalist, Parnaz Azima, with spying, a charge which under Iran's
Islamic law is punishable by death.
These trumped up charges are absolutely ridiculous. Haleh Esfandiari
is a constituent of mine. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a 67-
year-old Director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars. Kian Tajbakhsh is a respected social
scientist who is consulted by George Soros' Open Society Institute at
the World Bank, and Parnaz Azima is a Radio Farda journalist.
The government of Iran accused these Iranian Americans of endangering
state security and fomenting a, quote, soft revolution. These are
ridiculous charges under any circumstances and clearly an excuse by
Iran to once again take action in violation of international law.
Just to emphasize the point, Ms. Esfandiari is someone who has
invited scholars and statesmen from Iran to the United States to
conferences and events and has even been criticized by some members of
the Iranian American community for being too soft on the current regime
in Tehran. Mr. Tajbakhsh has consulted directly for the Iranian
government and, working with the Open Society Institute, helped run its
humanitarian health outreach program in Iran with full cooperation of
the Iranian government.
The lists of foreign detainees doesn't stop there. Iranian American
businessman Ali Shakeri, who is on the board of the University of
California at Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, was arrested
on May 8 as he returned to the United States from visiting his ill
mother, who died during his stay.
These detainees have dedicated their lives to building bridges
between the Americans and the people of Iran. Their presence in Iran to
visit their parents or to conduct humanitarian work poses absolutely no
threat to the people or the government of Iran.
Their detention is a gross perversion of the rule of law. And the
claim that
[[Page H5965]]
the Iranian government has made that they seek dialogue and improved
relations with the West is belied by the actions they have taken with
respect to these individuals.
So we call today upon the Iranian government to do as they say they
want to do, which is to have a better relationship with the United
States and the people of the United States and to immediately,
unconditionally release these Americans.
Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong
support of H. Res. 430.
This resolution calls on the government of Iran to release Dr. Haleh
Esfandiari, who is being held captive in Evin prison, despite the
Ministry of Intelligence offering no evidence of wrongdoing.
Dr. Esfandiari is a respected member of academia, holding the
position of director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson
Center for International Scholars, having previously taught Persian
language and literature at Princeton University.
While visiting her ailing 93-year-old mother in Iran, Dr. Esfandiari
was held up at knifepoint; her travel documents and luggage were taken
in the process. It was while attempting to procure subsequent documents
that Dr. Esfandiari was taken into custody by the Ministry of
Intelligence in Iran.
Dr. Esfandiari is not the only American taken prisoner in Iran under
the guise of being a ``spy.'' With U.S. and Iranian diplomatic
relations resuming again after 25 years, it is important that the
United States remain vigilant in opposing these unconscionable tactics
employed by the Iranian Government toward United States citizens
abroad.
This resolution is a strong first step in standing up for the safety
of all American citizens traveling abroad. No American should ever be
deprived of their liberty simply because they crossed the safe haven of
U.S. borders.
I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of
the H.R. 430, introduced by my esteemed colleague Mr. Van Hollen of
Maryland, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of dual
Iranian-American citizens Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Ms. Parnaz Azima, and a
third unnamed individual also being detained against her will. Mr.
Speaker, these three Americans have been unjustly incarcerated without
due legal process. They have had their travel documents stolen, and
they have been subjected to tactics of harassment. I strongly support
this legislation, which expresses the serious concerns we have for
these three individuals, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well.
Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, one of the detained individuals, is head of the
Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International
Scholars and widely recognized as one of Washington's top experts on
Iran. Dr. Esfandiari was robbed of her passport upon her arrival at
Tehran airport in December of last year when she went to visit her
ailing, 93-year old mother. After being refused new documents, she was
interrogated at excruciating length by Iranian intelligence, and
pressured to make forced confessions that would falsely implicate
herself and the Wilson Center in trying to launch a full-fledged coup
in Iran. She consistently refused to tarnish her good name or the
reputations of her colleagues.
Dr. Esfandiari was arrested on May 7th, and has been incarcerated,
despite numerous efforts by countries, organizations, and individuals
on her behalf. She faces ludicrous charges of seeking to launch a one-
woman coup against the Iranian government. The United States government
has called for her immediate release.
Unfortunately, Dr. Esfandiari is only one of a number of American
citizens who have recently been detained in Iran without adequate legal
grounds. Another case involved a journalist for Radio Farda, who was
courageously involved in the effort to bring free and open media to the
Iranian people. These outrageous arrests are indicative of the Iranian
political system, including the concentration of power and the lack of
rule of law.
Another American missing in Iran, former FBI agent Robert Levinson,
disappeared after flying to Iran's Kish Island in March. I call on the
Iranian government to use all the powers at its disposal to locate Mr.
Levinson, if it has not already done so, and to repatriate him.
Mr. Speaker, I believe this is an issue of basic human rights. We as
a Congress, and we as a nation, cannot allow the Iranian government to
continue trampling on the fundamental liberties of our citizens in this
manner. Therefore, I rise in strong support of this resolution, calling
for the unconditional release of these three American citizens unjustly
being held in Iranian prisons, and I call upon all of my colleagues to
do likewise.
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.
Res. 430, which calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately
release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari.
Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, a highly respected member of the Washington, DC
and Maryland communities, is currently serving as the Director of the
Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars. In December, she traveled to Iran to visit her ailing mother,
something that she has done countless times before. On her return to
the airport, her travel documents and personal effects were taken from
her. When she attempted to obtain replacement travel documents in Iran,
she was instead subjected to days upon days of interrogation and
essentially placed under house arrest for several months.
Last month, Dr. Esfandiari was summoned by the government and was
taken to the infamous Evin prison, where she is currently being held.
She has been accused by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of trying to
set up networks of Iranians to start a revolution to bring down the
government. In fact, she has long advocated for building bridges
between the United States and the Middle East
Iran's imprisonment of Dr. Esfandiari is entirely baseless and shows
a disregard for the rule of law as well as the Iranian government's
continued claim that they would like to gain the world's respect. We
must demand Dr. Esfandiari and all other Americans that are being held
without just cause be released by the Iranian government.
I urge all my colleagues to join us in support of this important
resolution.
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on December 30, 2006, Dr. Haleh
Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American scholar, was in Iran to visit
her sick 93-year-old mother when she was stopped by the Iranian
authorities.
What followed was nearly 5 months of a series of intense
interrogations and pressure tactics where she was harassed, threatened,
and forced to make false statements against her employer, the Woodrow
Wilson Center for International Scholars. On May 8, she was again
detained and imprisoned.
Her arrest and detention has angered analysts, human rights groups
and lawmakers throughout the world. Yet still, the Iranian regime
refuses to release her, claiming she is a spy who was plotting to
overthrow the Iranian government.
I would like to submit a statement issued from the Woodrow Wilson
Center for International Scholars on May 21, 2007 for the record.
Mr. Speaker, these charges are a farce. Professor Esfandiari is an
accomplished scholar of Persian literature, language and history who
taught at Princeton University before becoming the Director of the
Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars Middle East Program.
Her husband, Mr. Shaul Bakhash, is a professor at George Mason
University of Fairfax, VA. The Woodrow Wilson Center is a non-profit,
non-partisan organization whose work is to research and foster dialogue
within the scholarly world on current and future public policy issues.
Dr. Esfandiari's tireless dedication to teaching and advocating on
behalf of Iran is clear. She has focused on building bridges and
opening doors for peace in the Middle East. She has sought to
facilitate and strengthen Iranian-American relations through numerous
seminars, lectures and workshops with educators, policymakers and
groups from both countries and has pressed wider freedoms to
communicate about our common bonds and negotiate over our
disagreements.
Like thousands of other Iranians living abroad, Professor Esfandiari
is an academic who took a personal trip to see her family. If she as
one individual scholar threatens this regime so much that they have to
interrogate her for almost five months and detain her in a notorious
prison cell known for human rights abuses, then one has to assume this
regime is desperate to retain whatever control it can.
Today, the Iranian leadership's lack of courage and conscience is as
clear as it is disappointing.
It is evident that this regime is criminalizing scholarly work of any
kind, despite the fact that Iran's very own history is filled with
centuries of scholarly research and discovery. This regime's egregious
decision to imprison Dr. Esfandiari reflects a deepening departure from
the values and ideals the Iranian people have historically prided
themselves on.
Iran's renowned nationalist Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh once
said ``There is no better way to govern Iran than democracy and social
justice!''
Professor Esfandiari should be released immediately. Every day she is
so unjustly detained, Iran proves the case of its detractors and makes
it all the more difficult for institutions like Dr. Esfandiari's Wilson
Center to treat the Iranian people with the respect that should be
afforded to ah historic civilization and citizenship of 70 million
people.
Statement on the Arrest in Tehran of Esfandiari, Director of the
Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Program
Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at
the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a
dual Iranian-American national, was arrested in
[[Page H5966]]
Tehran on May 8 and incarcerated in the Evin Prison.
The background to this entirely unjustified arrest is as
follows. Timeline of events:
December 21, 2006, Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle
East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars, and a dual Iranian-American national, traveled from
Washington D.C. to Tehran, Iran to visit her 93-year-old
mother for one week.
On December 30, 2006, on her way to the airport to catch a
flight back to Washington, the taxi in which Dr. Esfandiari
was riding was stopped by three masked, knife-wielding men.
They threatened to kill her, and they took away all of her
belongings, including her Iranian and American passports.
On January 3, when applying for replacement Iranian travel
documents at the passport office, Dr. Esfandiari was invited
to an ``interview'' by a man from Iran's Ministry of
Intelligence.
Beginning on January 4, she was subjected to a series of
interrogations that stretched out over the next six weeks,
sometimes continuing for as many as four days a week, and
sometimes stretching across seven and eight hours in a single
day. Dr. Esfandiari went home every evening, but the
interrogations were unpleasant and not free from intimidation
and threat.
The questioning focused almost entirely on the activities
and programs of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center.
Dr. Esfandiari answered all questions fully; when she could
not remember details of programs stretching back five and
even eight years, the staff at the Wilson Center provided her
all the information requested. As a public organization, all
Wilson Center activities are on the public record. Repeatedly
during the interrogation, she was pressured to make a false
confession or to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in
activities in which it had no part, but she refused.
On Friday, January 15, in the third week of interrogations,
Dr. Esfandiari was told (misleadingly as it turned out) the
questioning was over. On January 18, the interrogator and
three other men showed up at Dr. Esfandiari's mother's
apartment. Dr. Esfandiari was taking a nap and was startled
to wake up and see the door to her bedroom open, her privacy
violated, and three strange men, one of them wielding a
video-camera, staring into her bedroom.
On February 14, the lengthy interrogations stopped.
On February 17, Haleh received one threatening phone call,
and then she did not hear anything from her interrogators for
ten weeks.
On February 20, Lee Hamilton, president and director of the
Wilson Center, wrote to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
asking that Dr. Esfandiari be allowed to travel. However,
President Ahmadinejad did not reply to the letter.
At the end of April or early May, she was telephoned once
again and invited to ``cooperate.'' In effect, she was being
asked to make a confession. She refused to make the false
statements.
On Monday, May 7 she was summoned to the Ministry of
Intelligence once again. When she arrived for her appointment
on Tuesday morning, May 8th, she was put into a car and taken
to Evin prison. She was incarcerated and was allowed only one
phone call to her mother.
On May 9 she called her mother asking her to bring her
clean clothes and her medicine. Her mother delivered the
small package at Evin Prison on May 10, but was not allowed
to see her.
On May 12, the hard-line daily ``Kayhan'' in an article
accused Dr. Esfandiari of working with the U.S. and Israeli
governments and with involvement in efforts to topple Iran's
Islamic regime.
On May 15, Iranian judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi
said that Dr. Esfandiari was being investigated for crimes
against national security and that her case was being handled
by the Intelligence Ministry.
On May 15, Haleh made a brief telephone call to her mother.
On May 16, Haleh's family retained the legal services of
Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi to represent her.
On May 17, in an interview with Washington Post Staff
Writer Robin Wright, Shirin Ebadi indicated that the Iranian
government has rejected her request to represent Dr.
Esfandiari. She also noted the court refused information on
the legal charges against Dr. Esfandiari, and denied her
legal team the ability to see Haleh.
On May 21 state-run television broadcasts in Iran indicated
that Haleh is being charged with seeking to topple the
government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Our efforts to obtain Haleh's release will continue and
will be redoubled. She will be in our thoughts and prayers
every day.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I have no more requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 430, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
____________________