Iranian of the Day

AP: Iran has temporarily released an Iranian-American scholar serving prison time on an espionage conviction so he can spend the Iranian New Year holiday with his family, officials said Sunday. Kian Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner, was the only American detained in the crackdown that crushed giant street protests by hundreds of thousands of people after June's disputed presidential election. Iran traditionally releases some prisoners during the New Year holiday. Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said Tajbakhsh was released Saturday on $800,000 bail for 15 days, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported. The terms of the release do not allow him to leave the country >>>