The Woodrow Wilson Center has just announced the wonderful news that Haleh is back home with her family in the United States:

Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, arrived safely in the United States this afternoon. Dr. Esfandiari announced that she was happy and excited to be home with her family.

Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, was incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison on May 8, 2007, on allegations of endangering Iranian national security. During her lengthy 105-day confinement in prison, she was denied access to her legal defense team and to independent monitoring bodies such as the ICRC and was allowed only limited contact with her family. Dr. Esfandiari left Iran on September 2.

We are delighted to welcome Haleh home!

And we express our sincere gratitude to the thousands upon thousands of people who joined the campaign over the past five months. Nearly 8,000 people sent letters calling for Haleh’s release. Participants spanned diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds, as well as political outlooks. The unity shown on Haleh’s behalf helped drive the campaign over the long months and helped make the campaign a success.

Thank you to everyone who sent letters and signed petitions, to the dedicated team at the Woodrow Wilson Center, to the journalists who continued to cover Haleh’s plight, to all the organizations that joined in, and to the bipartisan group of political leaders who kept up the pressure.

It’s wonderful when a soildarity campaign achieves success. We’re happy that Haleh is home with her family - but we do not forget those who remain behind. We hope they are soon reunited with their families as well.

-The American Islamic Congress