Barack Obama voiced his concern for the wrongful imprisonment of Haleh Esfandiari in a letter that he sent to Mostafa Rahmani, the Director of the Iranian Interest Section in Washington DC, on July 30.

I write today to repeat my call that Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, a distinguished scholar and the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, be immediately and unconditionally released and permitted to return to the United States. She has been unjustly imprisoned in Iran since May 8, 2007.

It has now been more than six months since Dr. Esfandiari was forbidden to return to the United States, and more than two months since she was detained in solitary confinement and denied legal counsel.

Obama’s Letter