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U.S.-IRANIAN JOURNALIST AND ACADEMIC ALLOWED TO LEAVE COUNTRY

A U.S.-Iranian broadcaster banned from leaving Iran for the past seven months has been given permission to leave the country, the day after another dual citizen left Tehran following her release from jail in August on bail.

Authorities returned Parnaz Azima's passport on 4 September after she had been charged with spreading propaganda against the Iranian state. Azima is a broadcaster with Radio Farda, the Persian-language service run jointly by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America.

The move came the day after another dual citizen, academic Haleh Esfandiari, left Tehran following her release from jail in August on a three billion Rial (US$320,000) bail. She spent more than 100 days in Tehran's notorious Evin prison and still faces charges of endangering Iran's national security.

Two more U.S.-Iranians remain in jail in Iran: Kian Tajbakhsh, a consultant with the Open Society Institute, and peace activist Ali Shakeri. The detentions have been seen as part of a wider government crackdown on critics and others deemed a threat to the regime.

Visit these links:
- RFE/RL: http://tinyurl.com/yt55dp
- "IFEX Communiqué" on Esfandiari: http://tinyurl.com/2rxrwm
- "IFEX Communiqué" on U.S.-Iranian dual nationals: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/83925
(11 September 2007)