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By admin, July 20, 2009 7:48 pm

Shown below is the statement released by VNG International (The International Cooperation Agency of The Association of Netherlands Municipalities) strongly condemning Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh’s unjustified detention and calling for his immediate release:

Release Kian Tajbakhsh: The International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities Calls for Kian’s Release

VNG International—the International Cooperation Agency of The Association of Netherlands Municipalities—expresses its deep concern over the arrest of our associated expert and colleague, the urban development specialist and social scientist, Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, who was arrested by the Iranian authorities on July 9, 2009. VNG International strongly condemns his unjustified detention and calls for his immediate release.
Kian Tajbakhsh is a leading local government expert with an excellent international reputation who has worked regularly together with VNG International since 2004. Within the VNG International “LOGO SOUTH program on Developing the Capacity of the Local Government Sector”, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, he had planned to undertake a mission to Nepal last weekend. According to his contract with VNG International, he would assist the Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) and provide them with a comparative assessment of the local government situation in federal countries, a comparative analytical perspective on the structures, functions and finances among the various tiers of government as practiced in relevant country legislation and a review of the study by Nepalese experts on “Federalism and Local Government Restructuring”. The detention of Kian Tajbakhsh is a harmful disruption of the process of cooperation with MuAN in Nepal.

VNG International cannot understand why a skilled and honest expert and scientist like Kian Tajbakhsh is treated with such disrespect by the government of Iran. VNG International calls on the leadership of Iran to release Kian Tajbakhsh and enable him to resume his important work for the development of stronger local government—the tier of government that is crucial for service delivery to the citizens—in our world and global community.

Peter Knip
Director of VNG International

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By admin, July 19, 2009 7:26 pm

PAAIA (Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans) on July 11th posted a statement on their website calling for the guarantee of detainee rights. Specifically mentioned in the statement was Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.  A brief excerpt is shown below:

Among those detained is Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian American scholar, who was arrested on July 9 and his whereabouts remain unknown. Dr. Tajbakhsh, 47 had previously been one of four Iranian Americans detained in May 2007 on charges of endangering Iran’s national security, but denied the allegations and was released after about four months. Iranian authorities have neither confirmed nor denied Dr. Tajbakhsh’s recent arrest. We urge the Iranian authorities to disclose the whereabouts and conditions of Dr. Tajbakhsh and all other detainees, and to safeguard their rights under law.

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By admin, July 17, 2009 7:13 pm

The Associated Press just posted an article by Desmond Butler based on the statement by family and friends that was issued yesterday, as published here by ABC News, for example:

“WASHINGTON – The family and associates of an Iranian-American scholar under arrest in Iran say they are worried that the Islamic Republic is preparing to bring him before a show trial.

Iranian state-run Press TV has reported that Kian Tajbakhsh was arrested last week for working with a local employee of the British Embassy, Hossein Rassam, who also is being held in Tehran. Iran has accused other countries, especially the United States and Britain, of provoking unrest and protests that followed disputed June 12 presidential elections.

Family and friends of Tajbakhsh deny the charges and in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press by Pamela Kilpadi, a researcher who has been working on a book with Tajbakhsh, expressed fear he may be facing torture in Iranian captivity.

“We are concerned that Kian is being held in an attempt by the Iranian authorities to obtain forced statements from him to use in a televised show trial,” the statement says. “Such statements are repeatedly extracted under conditions of torture for the sole purpose of staging televised show trials in an attempt to deceive the Iranian public.”

The statement was also posted on a Web site the family and associates have organized to draw attention to his captivity.

Iran accuses Rassam of playing a “key role” in guiding British diplomats during the protests, according to the state-run TV. His arrest has sparked a showdown with European Union countries, which are insisting on his release.

The U.S. government has called Tajbakhsh’s arrest unjust and said he should be released.

Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner, spent four months in prison in 2007, charged along with three other Iranian-Americans with endangering national security.

[Link to article]
[also translated and republished in Persian media]

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By admin, July 16, 2009 5:37 pm

In Iran’s first official acknowledgment of Kian’s arrest on July 9, Iranian Press TV reported on Monday that “Iranian authorities detained Tajbakhsh on grounds of cooperating with Hossein Rassam, the head of the security and political division of the British Embassy in Tehran, who is also in custody over post-election turmoil.”

These false accusations are entirely groundless. Those who know Kian understand that his persecution by Iranian authorities is not only tragic but ironic—as a social scientist and urban planner he has always sought political neutrality in an effort to bridge cultural divides and honor his much-loved homeland. His work is a valued asset that the Government of Iran should seek to protect.

The Iranian state television report on Kian’s arrest also notes that “Iran blames foreign powers, the US and Britain in particular, for what it calls interference in its internal affairs and post-vote disturbances, which have claimed the lives of at least 20 people.”

We are concerned that Kian is being held in an attempt by the Iranian authorities to obtain forced statements from him to use in a televised show trial. It is exceedingly important that we all strongly denounce Iran’s serial practice of extracting forced statements from political prisoners. Such statements are repeatedly extracted under conditions of torture for the sole purpose of staging televised show trials in an attempt to deceive the Iranian public.

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By admin, July 15, 2009 10:42 am

NPR aired an interview with Karim Sadjadpour (who analyzes Iranian affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) by Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition about the scholars and analysts held after the disputed election in Iran.

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By admin, July 13, 2009 5:29 pm

The Washington Post  had an article titled: ‘U.S. Worried about American scholar detained in Iran‘.

Below is an excerpt from that article:

Tajbakhsh, an Iranian American who holds a doctorate in urban planning from Columbia University, was arrested by Iranian authorities in May 2007, charged with spying and then released after more than four months in Tehran’s Evin prison.

It was not clear why Tajbakhsh was detained last week.

…

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By admin,

At the daily press briefing at the US State Department, the Department Spokesman was asked about Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.
The transcript related to this questions is posted below.  (The full transcipt can be found here.)

Ian Kelly
Department Spokesman
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC

July 13, 2009

QUESTION: Do you have any update at all on the Iranian American scholar who was detained last week?

MR. KELLY: Yes, we’re deeply concerned of reports that an Iranian American scholar has been unjustly detained in Iran. Due to Privacy Act considerations, we’re not able to comment on the details of his arrest and imprisonment. It’s unfortunate that the Iranian Government is making choices that only serve to isolate Iran from the international community. We urge the Iranian authorities to immediately release Kian Tajbakhsh as well as return the passports of all Americans being kept in Iran on groundless charges.

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By admin,

The National Iranian American Council condemned the arrest of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh and called for his release .

The full text of the press release is as follows:

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) condemns the arrest and imprisonment of Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American intellectual who was taken from his home in Iran and jailed late last Thursday. NIAC calls for his release and the immediate release of all those who have been arrested and detained for demonstrating in the weeks following Iran’s disputed presidential election.

“Tajbakhsh’s recent arrest is part of an ongoing effort by the government of Iran to silence dissent,” said NIAC President Trita Parsi, “and it shows the Iranian government’s continued disregard for the basic rights of its people in the wake of last month’s election.” NIAC has condemned the use of violence and political detentions against demonstrators in Iran, and called for a new election as the only plausible way to end the turmoil.

Tajbakhsh was not involved in the current demonstrations, but had been arrested in 2007 along with four other dual citizens on charges of trying to foment a ‘velvet revolution’ against the Islamic Republic. He spent four months in Tehran’s Evin Prison before his was released. Following his release in 2007, he remained in Iran and deliberately avoided politics, his friends and family members say. Tajbakhsh, a Columbia University graduate, taught urban policy at the New School for Social Research in New York City from 1994 until 2001.

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, over 240 other prominent Iranian lawyers, activists, journalists, professors, human rights defenders and students have been arrested without charge, and have been taken to undisclosed locations since the demonstrations began.  NIAC has also received many reports of detainees in Iran’s prisons being mistreated, including prisoners being tortured and raped.

NIAC calls on the Iranian government to restore basic human and legal rights to its prisoners, including a halt to torture and guaranteed access to legal representation in accordance with the Iranian constitution.

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By admin,

We are issuing this statement to draw your attention to the arrest in Iran of respected American Iranian scholar Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.

At 9:00pm Tehran time on July 9, 2009, Iranian agents arrested Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh at his home in Tehran. Two people who identified themselves as Iranian security officials arrived at his residence in Tehran late Thursday. The officials questioned him and his wife and searched the residence for three hours, before taking him away along with two computers and other items.

We have no information about where Kian was taken.

An American citizen, Dr. Tajbakhsh is a leading scholar with an international reputation. As a social scientist and urban planner he has always sought political neutrality in an effort to bridge cultural divides and honor his much-loved homeland. He taught at the New School in New York City for seven years and remains a senior research fellow there. He has published two widely praised books, The Promise of the City: Space, Identity and Politics in Contemporary Social Thought (University of California Press, 2001) and Social Capital: Trust, Democracy and Development (published in Persian, 2005). He has published over 20 articles in leading scholarly journals and delivered lectures at major international conferences on urban planning, public health, and municipal government. Dr. Tajbakhsh has had a long affiliation with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the leading academic organization for social scientists in the United States. He has served as a Steering Committee Member for the SSRC’s Middle East and North Africa Program and contributed in significant ways to the SSRC’s academic projects. Throughout the course of his career, Dr. Tajbakhsh has earned a reputation as a distinguished and respected scholar throughout the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, and the United States.

In addition to his academic career, Dr. Tajbakhsh has worked as a consultant for several organizations including Iran’s Municipalities Organization, the Social Security Organization, and international organizations such as the World Bank, the Open Society Institute and the Dutch Association of Municipalities. He spent four months in Evin prison in 2007 after being falsely accused along with three other Iranian-Americans of endangering national security. Following his release he ended his association with the Open Society Institute. Recently he has been researching and writing several books and spending time with his family and first child, born in 2007.

It is difficult to imagine why a brilliant scholar and friend like Kian would be targeted by the Iranian regime. We strongly appeal for your help in revoking the decision to detain him and ensuring his safe return to his family.

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By admin, July 12, 2009 5:18 pm

The Huffington Post posted an article written by Desmond Butler on Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh’s arrest in Tehran.

The Huffington Post article is posted below:

An Iranian-American scholar whom Iran once accused of fomenting political unrest has been arrested by authorities there for the second time in two years, the State Department and the man’s family said Friday.

Security forces arrested Kian Tajbakhsh late Thursday, a family member told The Associated Press. The relative was in contact with Tajbakhsh’s wife, who witnessed the arrest in Tehran.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that the United States was aware of the arrest and was checking into the circumstances. He provided no further detail.

There was no comment from Iranian authorities. The relative spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of concern that public comments could aggravate Tajbakhsh’s situation.

The arrest comes amid high political tension in Iran. Tehran has seen massive demonstrations following disputed June 12 presidential elections.

Opposition protests erupted again on Thursday in the capital, with marchers chanting “death to the dictator.” In some places, clashes erupted as police fired tear gas and charged demonstrators with batons.

Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner, spent four months in prison in 2007 on charges of endangering national security. He denied the allegations.

In the latest incident, two people who identified themselves as Iranian security officials arrived at his residence in Tehran late Thursday, Tajbakhsh’s family said. The officials questioned him and his wife and searched the residence for three hours, before taking him away along with two computers and other items.

The family said that they have no information about where Tajbakhsh was taken.

Tajbakhsh was held by authorities in 2007 after being charged along with three other Iranian-Americans with endangering national security. Then, he was a consultant with the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute, an organization that Iran has accused of trying to undermine the Iranian government.

Tajbakhsh’s family says that he ended his association with the Open Society Institute after his earlier imprisonment.

Iran’s arrest of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi in January on spying charges sparked tensions at a time that U.S. President Barack Obama was looking for openings to negotiate on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Saberi was released in May ahead of the elections and returned to the United States.