FRENCH IRAN-OPHILE TAKES UNEXPECTED TRIP — TO PRISON
Los Angeles Times
Associated Press
Clotilde Reiss’ Iranian nanny sparked her interest in Iran. "She’s
not political," a friend says.
Clotilde Reiss has been fascinated by Iran since she was a child. Now
she finds herself in the notorious Evin Prison, accused of espionage,
a charge her friends call absurd. By Borzou Daragahi July 8, 2009
Reporting from Beirut — The young, quiet Frenchwoman became fascinated
with Iran not because she wanted to fight against Islamic radicalism
or because she was lured by the mystique of the Orient, like most
scholars, but for more mundane reasons. As a child in Paris, her
longtime nanny was Iranian, teaching her bits of Persian as she grew
up. Shortly after her mother died eight years ago, she immersed herself
in the language and culture of the country, eventually spending months
in Iran studying Persian and teaching French at colleges.
Now Clotilde Reiss, 23, sits in Tehran’s Evin Prison, Western diplomats
say. She was arrested July 1 and accused of espionage. Her detention
has placed her at the center of an international drama that pits the
European Union against Iran, which is trying to suppress protests
following the June 12 presidential election, marred by accusations of
fraud. A Western official in Tehran said she allegedly was photographed
taking part in anti-government demonstrations, had pictures of protests
on her cellphone camera and wrote an e-mail to a journalist describing
the unrest.
"That is not espionage and cannot be so. The accusation is absurd,"
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday.
"She’s not political," said a longtime friend, among the small group of
European scholars who travel to Iran to conduct social and political
research. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity because of
security concerns. "But she’s Iranian in her heart."
Reiss finds herself among a group of foreign nationals caught up in
the recent unrest. Greek British journalist Iason Athanasiadis was
arrested at Imam Khomeini International Airport as he tried to leave
the country and was held for two weeks. Iranian Canadian journalist
Maziar Bahari, a freelance correspondent for Newsweek and broadcast
media, is in prison, as is Hossein Rassam, an Iranian who is the top
political analyst at the British Embassy in Tehran. In an effort to
paint the unrest as the work of foreign agents, the government has
accused all of taking part in or provoking postelection protests.
But the soft-spoken Reiss appears miscast for such a role. She
studied Iran in the French city of Lille and at the Sorbonne in
Paris and traveled to Iran last year as a fellow for the French
Research Institute in Tehran, returning five months ago to teach
language classes at a university in the city of Esfahan. Reiss found
an apartment in the historic city’s ancient Jolfa section, the heart
of Iran’s Armenian Christian community, her friends say. She decorated
her apartment with Persian rugs and made friends with her neighbors,
who adopted the young woman with exceptional command of Persian
as one of their own. During weekends she would travel to Tehran or
the cities of the lush Caspian Sea coast, or welcome visitors from
Tehran to her home. On July 1, as she tried to leave the country for
Beirut, she disappeared. French and Iranian authorities confirmed
Monday that she was being held in Evin, accused of espionage. French
President Nicolas Sarkozy has dismissed the charge as "pure fantasy"
and demanded her release. "Let me say in the clearest and simplest
way possible: We demand the release of our compatriot," Sarkozy said
Tuesday. "I do not doubt for an instant that she will be released
very, very soon." A Western diplomat in Tehran said she is also
accused of sending one straightforward e-mail describing events in
Esfahan to a journalist in Tehran, which authorities say they have
tracked. Friends say she never tried to hide anything. "Of course
we know that being a researcher in Iran, we’re under surveillance,"
said one friend. "We know that our Internet is monitored and our
phone is tapped. But we were always cautious and we never took
any risks." Though she may have marched in peaceful protests or
taken pictures of them with her cellphone, friends say they cannot
imagine her taking part in riots or damaging property. "She’s not the
kind of girl who would jump in the fire," said one friend. "She’s
always respectful of morality and behavior. She knows very well
Iran so she wouldn’t take stupid risks." [email protected]