My Prison, My Home

Sep 14, 2009

Wilson (Woodrow) International Center for Scholars | Middle East Program

Haleh Esfandiari talked about her book My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran (Ecco; September 1, 2009). The book is a memoir of her childhood in Iran and her professional career as well as the troubled political situation that led to her imprisonment. After a visit to her elderly mother in Tehran, Haleh Esfandiari was .. Read More
Haleh Esfandiari talked about her book My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran (Ecco; September 1, 2009). The book is a memoir of her childhood in Iran and her professional career as well as the troubled political situation that led to her imprisonment. After a visit to her elderly mother in Tehran, Haleh Esfandiari was detained by the government of Iran beginning on New Year's Eve of 2006. Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused Ms. Esfandiari of being part of a U.S. plan to overthrow the government of Iran. After four months of interrogation under house arrest she was held in solitary confinement for 105 days. She spoke about her imprisonment, interrogation, the propaganda uses made of her arrest, and her release in August 2007 due to international intervention and the efforts of her colleagues at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Topics included the paranoid mindset in Iran and diplomatic relations with the Iranian government. Ms. Esfandiari responded to questions from members of the audience. Michael Van Dusen moderated. Haleh Esfandiari is the founding director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Program. She has worked as a journalist in Iran and is the author of Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution. This book launch event was held at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, September 14, 2009.

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TRANSCRIPT

TIME SPEAKER TEXT
00:00:13 Unidentified Speaker HALEH ESFANDIARI, DIRECTOR OF THE WOODROW WILSON MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM TALKS ABOUT HER 105-DAY DETENTION...
00:00:41 Unidentified Speaker GOOD AFTERNOON. I'M MIKE VAN DUESEN DEPUTY DIRECTOR. A HEARTY WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU. THANK YOU FOR...
00:01:04 Unidentified Speaker AND HIS WIFE, KATHERINE. [APPLAUSE]
00:01:07 Unidentified Speaker CHRIS WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS ON BEHALF OF THE MARYLAND DELEGATION, AND WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING HE...
00:01:57 Unidentified Speaker FINALLY, THE HALEH ESFANDIARI'S FAMILY. HER DAUGHTER AND HUSBAND ARE HERE. [APPLAUSE]
00:02:04 Unidentified Speaker THIS IS A BITTERSWEET OCCASION. DESPITE THE MARVELOUS AND HAPPY ENDING OF HALEH'S INCARCERATION, ...
00:04:17 Unidentified Speaker THANK YOU, MIKE, FOR THAT VERY GENEROUS INTRODUCTION AND GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. I'M JUST PLEASED...
00:07:49 Unidentified Speaker GOOD AFTERNOON. MIKE, JOE, THANK YOU. I FEEL HUMBLED BY YOUR KIND WORDS. THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS...
00:23:40 Unidentified Speaker I DID SEE A NEWSPAPER LYING THERE, I TOLD THE DISAPPOINTED MAN, BUT I DIDN'T HAVE MY GLASSES AND COULDN'T...
00:23:54 Unidentified Speaker EAGER FOR PUBLIC CONFIRMATION OF THEIR THEORIES REGARDING AMERICANS PLANS FOR A VELVET REVOLUTION...
00:32:48 Unidentified Speaker ALL I CAN SAY IS, WELCOME BACK.
00:32:51 Unidentified Speaker THANK YOU.
00:32:52 Unidentified Speaker HALEH HAS AGREED TO TAKE A FEW QUESTIONS. THE YOUNG LADY IN THE BACK. PLEASE, GIVE YOUR NAME.
00:33:12 Unidentified Speaker I'M PART OF THE WOMEN'S LEARNING PARTNERSHIP, AN OLD COLLEAGUE OF HALEH. HALEH, THANK YOU FOR THIS...
00:34:39 Unidentified Speaker SHE WAS MY BOSS WHEN I WAS WORKING IN THE WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION AND SHE WAS THE FIRST -- THE FIRST...
00:37:20 Unidentified Speaker I WONDER IF YOU COULD TELL US YOUR REACTION WHEN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD REMOVE THE INTELLIGENCE...
00:37:45 Unidentified Speaker I WAS TOLD WHEN I WAS STILL OUTSIDE PRISON AND BEING TAKEN FOR INTERROGATION TO THE INTELLIGENCE MINISTRY,...
00:38:56 Unidentified Speaker AS YOU KNOW, PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD IS COMING TO NEW YORK AGAIN FOR THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY....
00:39:31 Unidentified Speaker BARBARA, I THINK IT'S A VERY PERSONAL DECISION. I KNOW THAT ONE OF MY VERY DEAR COLLEAGUE AT THE WILSON...
00:40:18 Unidentified Speaker YES.
00:40:21 Unidentified Speaker TRUDY RUBIN FROM THE "PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER." AND THE BOOK IS WONDERFUL.
00:40:29 Unidentified Speaker THANK YOU, TRUDY.
00:40:30 Unidentified Speaker HALEH, YOU MENTIONED THAT WHAT WE'RE SEEING NOW IS THE SAME MINDSET AND TWISTED LOGIC IS BEING PLAYED...
00:41:26 Unidentified Speaker TRUDY, YOU HAVE KNOWN ME FOR MANY YEARS AND YOU KNOW WHEN I GOT OUT OF IRAN, THREE DAYS LATER I GAVE...
00:42:51 Unidentified Speaker HALEH, WELCOME BACK. I'M FROM THE WOODROW WILSON COUNCIL IN GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. I'VE BEEN...
00:43:22 Unidentified Speaker ACTUALLY, IRANIAN WOMEN HAVE BEEN TALKING, I THINK, FOR MAYBE THE LAST 70 YEARS AND THEY NEVER STOPPED...
00:44:31 Unidentified Speaker WE RECEIVED A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FROM AN OVERFLOW ROOM AND I JUST THOUGHT ONE OF THEM, HALEH, MIGHT...
00:45:01 Unidentified Speaker FIRST OF ALL, I HOPE THERE WON'T BE A NEXT HALEH ESFANDIARI VICTIM IN IRAN. SECONDLY, I THINK IT DID...
00:46:09 Unidentified Speaker LET'S TAKE TWO MORE QUESTIONS. THE GENTLEMAN IN THE BACK.
00:46:18 Unidentified Speaker THANK YOU. I'M A REPORTER FROM INSIDE HIGHER ED. I WANTED TO ASK YOU WHAT WOULD SAY TO SCHOLARS WHO...
00:46:37 Unidentified Speaker AMERICAN SCHOLARS? OR --
00:46:39 Unidentified Speaker OR IRANIAN SCHOLARS, FOLKS IN YOUR OWN POSITION WHO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO BACK.
00:46:47 Unidentified Speaker I SEE. I SEE. IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO ANSWER. I HAVE VERY STRONG FEELINGS FOR IRAN. AND JUST SAYING...
00:47:18 Unidentified Speaker LET THEM TAKE ONE MORE QUESTION. THE GENTLEMAN IN THE BACK.
00:47:22 Unidentified Speaker HI, MY NAME IS JASON FROM THE PROJECT ON MIDDLE EAST DEMOCRACY. AND I'D LIKE TO ASK YOU REFERRING...
00:47:48 Unidentified Speaker THIS WAS NOT AN INVOVATETIVE MOVEMENT. SO APPOINTING A WOMAN AS A MEMBER OF THE CABINET WAS IN MY ...
00:48:27 Unidentified Speaker THANK YOU SO MUCH. SOMEONE COMMENTED IN THE
00:48:33 Unidentified Speaker THANK YOU.
00:48:35 Unidentified Speaker WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BOOK-SIGNING SO STAY IN YOUR SEATS UNTIL HALEH LEAVES THE ROOM. [LAUGHTER]
00:48:46 Unidentified Speaker SHE WILL BE IN THE BOARD ROOM SIGNING BOOKS AND WE THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING. I THINK IT WAS A MARVELOUS...
00:49:03 Unidentified Speaker HALEH ESFANDIARI HAS WORKED AS A JOURNALIST IN IRAN AND IS THE AUTHOR OF "RECONSTRUCTED

NOTE: The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.

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  • Esfandiari, Haleh
  • Gildenhorn, Joseph
  • Van Dusen, Michael
  • Esfandiari, Haleh

    Director Wilson (Woodrow) International Center for Scholars->Middle East Program
  • Gildenhorn, Joseph

    Chairman Wilson (Woodrow) International Center for Scholars->Board of Trustees
  • Van Dusen, Michael

    Deputy Director Wilson (Woodrow) International Center for Scholars

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