Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh

On September 20, Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, a respected scholar, former New School professor of urban planning, and current consultant to the Open Society Institute, was released from Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. One of four Iranian-Americans arrested in May, he spent 131 days in solitary confinement. From the very beginning, New School President Bob Kerrey condemned Tajbakhsh's arrest and detention as "unprovoked and without justification." Over the summer, President Kerrey continued to protest Dr. Tajbakhsh's incarceration, pointing to the lack of evidence to justify his detention. For weeks, The New School joined the numerous organizations around the world calling for his immediate release.