Bush Demands Immediate Release Of Iranian-American Scholars

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush on Friday demanded that Iran ``immediately and unconditionally'' release four Iranian-American scholars and activists being held on suspicion of spying. <br/><br/>``I

Friday, June 1st 2007, 12:05 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush on Friday demanded that Iran ``immediately and unconditionally'' release four Iranian-American scholars and activists being held on suspicion of spying.

``I strongly condemn their detention at the hands of Iranian authorities,'' the president said in a written statement.

The United States has denied that the four are spies or employees of the U.S. government. The State Department on Thursday warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Iran, accusing Islamic authorities there of a ``disturbing pattern'' of harassment of Iranian-Americans.

The four detained scholars and activists are Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars; Kian Tajbakhsh with George Soros' Open Society Institute; journalist Parnaz Azima from the U.S.-funded Radio Farda; and Ali Shakeri, a peace activist and founding board member at the University of California, Irvine, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding.

``These individuals have dedicated themselves to building bridges between the American and Iranian people, a goal the Iranian regime claims to support,'' Bush said. ``Their presence in Iran _ to visit their parents or to conduct humanitarian work _ poses no threat.''