My Prison, My Home

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 me close