Yesterday we announced the news that Nobel Laureate lawyer Shirin Ebadi had agreed to defend Haleh. Today, the latest news from the Washington Post is that Iranian authorities are denying Ebadi’s request to represent Haleh - and denying access to Haleh in prison.

Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the lead attorney for imprisoned American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, charged yesterday that the Iranian government has turned down her request to represent the Potomac resident, refused information on the charges against Esfandiari and denied a legal team access to its client.

After Iran announced yesterday that Iranian and U.S. diplomats are to hold talks on the future of Iraq on May 28, Ebadi said the arrest of people such as Esfandiari is “not a very good starting point for negotiations between the two countries…

“I’ve known her for many years, and I know she is innocent,” Ebadi said in an interview in Washington before speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2000, Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, was imprisoned for her activities in a case in the same notorious jail where Esfandiari is being held.

Ebadi said Iran is breaking its own laws in denying Esfandiari access to legal representation, which Esfandiari had requested in a telephone call to her mother from Evin Prison. Esfandiari, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who had lived in the United States for more than a quarter century, went to Iran to visit her ailing 93-year-old mother.

“Our goal is to inform Iranians and the international community that the government is not respecting its own laws and regulations,” Ebadi said. “Her arrest was illegal.”

The Nobel laureate noted that Esfandiari did not go public about her ordeal after she was put under house arrest at the beginning of the year, even during six weeks of interrogations by Iran’s intelligence ministry. “In return for my client’s goodwill, the government went ahead with this,” Ebadi said.

Read further coverage of this development.

Aside from one phone call by Haleh from Evin Prison to her mother, she has had no reported contact with anyone outside of the prison. We continue to await updates on her condition, and we are trying to obtain the correct address for writing to Haleh at Evin Prison.

In the meantime, the picture at right is a file-photo of Haleh now on the newswires. Her smile gives us hope that she is enduring this difficult time.

UPDATE: Princeton students launch campaign for Haleh.

Thank you to the 1,400 people who have used our on-line letter-writing system to send letters to Iranian authorities about Haleh. A list of every letter-writer who has chosen to make their name public is here.

Due to the overwhelming response, our server is running at slower than normal speeds. If you are trying to send a letter, please be patient. It make take more than 10 seconds for your signture to be processed. But it will eventually go through. In the meantime, our technicians are working to fix the problem. Thank you for your understanding.

Agence France Press reports:

TEHERAN - Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi is to defend a US-Iranian scholar awaiting trial in Teheran on national security charges, a lawyer from Ebadi’s human rights group told ISNA news agency on Wednesday.

Ebadi and two other lawyers from her Human Rights Defenders Centre agreed to represent Haleh Esfandiari following a request from the detainee’s mother, said Mohammad Seifzadeh, one of the lawyers concerned.

“In a letter this morning to the case inspector we asked to have a meeting with the defendant,” he was quoted as saying.

Senators Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) have just introduced a Senate resolution calling for the immediate release of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari. Here is an excerpt of the press release:

“Incarcerating Haleh Esfandiari damages Ahmadinejad’s relations with the world, it does not improve them,” Said Senator Smith. “Ms. Esfandiari should be released immediately. Her harassment has gone on far too long.”

“I am deeply concerned about the inexplicable detention of renowned scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari by the Iranian government,” said Senator Clinton. “Dr. Esfandiari has made significant contributions to the body of research on international women’s issues, contemporary Iranian politics, and democratic developments in the Middle East. Her imprisonment contradicts the very essence of her work - to promote peace, reconciliation and freedom for all.”

The resolution introduced today by Senators Clinton and Smith demands the immediate, safe and unconditional release of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari from custody by the Iranian government.

The resolution also condemns the continuing crackdown in Iran on journalists and scholars and the deliberate dissemination of misinformation regarding their activities.

UPDATE: Text of the full resolution is now available.

Prominent international voices continue to join the call to free Dr. Haleh Esfandiari from Evin Prison in Tehran. As the Agence France Press reports, New York Senator Hillary Clinton has joined the chorus:

“I am deeply concerned about the inexplicable detention of renowned scholar Dr Haleh Esfandiari by the Iranian government,” Clinton said in a statement.

Clinton said Esfandiari had made significant contributions to international womens issues and Iranian politics.

New photos of Dr. Esfandiari are now available. Most were taken during conferences she organized in the past two years for Middle Eastern women reformers. View the photos.

We have now launched a letter-writing campaign calling for the release of Dr. Esfandiari from Evin Prison. It is easy for you to join in. Simply go to the letter-writing site, edit the draft letter to Iranian government officials, and submit the text. Our system will deliver your letter and add your name to a list of people petitioning Iranian authorities.

The purpose of the letter/petition campaign is to deliver individual messages and to demonstrate an outpouring of grassroots support. Already, over 850 people have sent letters. Join the campaign - send a letter for Haleh.

UPDATED:Amnesty International has a site where you can print out a letter to send to Iranian officials about Haleh’s case.

Also, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East previously launched a petition appeal with the goal of obtaining 5,000 signatures. Follow the link to participate.

Sponsors: American Islamic Congress, Ibn Khaldoun Center, the Initiative for Inclusive Security, Freedom House, and the Kuwaiti Economic Society.

Dr. Haleh Esfandiari is the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. She is a 67-year-old Iranian-American who came to the US over 25 years ago. A recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Grant, she is an expert on Middle Eastern women’s issues and Iranian affairs.

Dr. Esfandiari is held in high regard by academics and civil society professionals across the Middle East. She has organized many seminars in the region bringing together diverse Middle Eastern thinkers, particularly women’s rights experts. She is known for her kind demeanor, academic integrity, and enthusiastic networking.

Dr. Esfandiari regularly travels to Iran to visit her elderly mother. On December 30, 2006, she was in Iran heading to Tehran’s international airport to return to Washington. Masked gunmen ambushed her taxi and stole her luggage, including her Iranian and U.S. passports.

When Dr. Esfandiari went to replace her passport, she was sent to the Intelligence Ministry for interrogation. For four months she was held under effective house arrest and repeatedly interrogated. In February, Lee Hamilton, the director of the Wilson Center, wrote to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking that Dr. Esfandiari be allowed to leave Iran. He received no reply.

In early May, Dr. Esfandiari received a call from the ministry suggesting she “cooperate” (i.e., confess), an offer she declined. On May 8, security forces took her away to Evin Prison, though she has not been formally charged with any crime. Evin Prison is notorious its harsh treatment of political prisoners. In 2003, Iranian-Canadian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi was killed during her interrogation in the prison.

The arrest of Dr. Esfandiari has been condemned by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Human Rights Watch. Her colleagues from around the world fear for her health and her safety. They call on the Iranian government to correct the mistake that has been made and free Haleh at once.

The “Free Haleh” campaign has been initiated by the American Islamic Congress in conjunction with Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo, the Initiative for Inclusive Security in Washington, and the Kuwaiti Economic Society.