November 16, 2007

Introduction (Mr. Salar):
Thank you Mr. Ali Shakeri for agreeing to this interview with the AIC. We appreciate this opportunity very much, especially as the event of your imprisonment at Evin Prison in Iran is still so recent. It must be very fresh to you and we know that all of this must be very difficult. All of us at the AIC were very concerned for you and we are deeply proud of you. It is wonderful that you are here with us today. Thank you for discussing this event with us.

Mr. Shakeri: Thank you.

Mr. Salar: You were in the notorious Evin Prison, specifically the Ward 209 attachment to Evin which is specifically designated for high profile detainees. You were there for 140 days, with 114 of those spent in solitary confinement. Evin prison is north of Tehran and was founded by SAVAK, the Sha's secret police. After such a difficult ordeal, how have you been? Has your health held up? Have you been experiencing any lingering effects of imprisonment?

Dear Friends!

Many of you have called and emailed in recent weeks to find out where I have been or what I and AIC have been doing in the last few months. I thank you for your attention to our absence! Let me assure you that I have been busy engaging in strategic meetings pursuing understanding and dialogue between the United States and Iran. Our silence reflected a change from a traditionally high-profile and open strategy to a more low-profile but high-impact and off-the-record strategy that better reflects the tense environment at hand. We have also been busy with restructuring the AIC so it can better pursue its mission.

Now that the summer is over and the US-Iran spiral conflict has heated up unlike never before, let us get connected again. I am sending you an update to keep you abreast of the most important developments involving the American Iranian Council. In the update is a report on some of the key events and debates in which the AIC has been a participant in concerning US-Iran relations. The crux of the debates comes down to whether the parties will make peace or the US will take some sort of military action against Iran. It is disheartening to report that the overwhelming majority of opinions I heard expressed on the subject believe that the war is increasingly a real option. What is of greater concern is that many of the people who think war is a real option are many former officials and very informed experts. Thankfully, there are also individuals who wish to see the two nations make compromise and normalize relations.