Two weeks ago, Iranian authorities arrested Soleimani Nia. According to a petition advocating for his release , he was questioned by intelligence officials in late November. Then in January he was called to the Revolutionary Court. That’s when security guards searched his home, seizing electronic devices and documents. His whereabouts since then are unknown.

Iranian American writer Firoozeh Dumas worked closed with Soleimani Nia on the translation of her book Funny in Farsi.

“The irony is Mohammed is the least political person I know,” she tells host Lisa Mullins. “… this is why I find it so painful for him to be in prison, because I know that man is completely innocent.”

Dumas says Soleimani Nia had been working on developing a website similar to “LinkedIn,” designed to help Iranians find jobs.

‘I’m guessing that that must have been something that was suspicious for the government,” Dumas said.

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The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

Lisa Mullins: I am Lisa Mullins and this is The World, the co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH in Boston. Writer Firoozeh Dumas is well known for the biting humor in her book “Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America” but there is no humor in what’s happened to the man who translated her book into Persian for readers in Iran. Iranian intelligence officials questioned translator Mohammed Soleimani Nia in late November and he hasn’t been seen since January; that’s when he was called before the Revolutionary Court. Security guards searched his home. They seized electronic devices and documents. Author Firoozeh Dumas wonders what authorities were expecting to find in her translator’s home.

Firoozeh Dumas: I don’t know what they were looking for but what I do know is that Mohammed also had a site which he had started which was very similar to “LinkedIn.” It basically connected people in Iran who are looking for jobs and I’m guessing that that must have been something that was suspicious for the government. The irony is that Mohammed is the least political person I know and during the time when he was translating “Funny in Farsi” for me he made it very clear he had no interest in politics whatsoever. Oftentimes in our emails I would just throw in a political question because, of course, I just wanted to hear something because I would hear something on the news in America and wonder what his take on it was. Even though he would answer all my questions, he never once answered any political question.

Mullins: How do you know him at all, by the way?

Dumas: Well, he contacted me when “Funny in Farsi” came out because he wanted permission to translate my book which, in a nut of itself, says a lot about him because Iran does not adhere to international copyright laws. So, nobody has to ask the author’s permission to translate and publish a book. So, he asked my permission and then he sent me a chapter that he had translated and I thought that it was quite good. He also told me…

Mullins: Not easy to do, by the way; to translate it because it’s humor. It’s humor about your life here as an Iranian-American living in California.

Dumas: Translating humor is one of the hardest things because you have to find the equivalent in the other language. I do want to share a story about that, but one thing that also really impressed me about Mohammed was, he said to me that I would have the final edit on all the stories and he incorporated all my edits. The man had no ego. He just really wanted to translate this book well and I was so impressed during the year that I worked with him and I felt like his personality was just so pure. One thing I do want to say about the difficulty of translating humor: Mohammed had learned English in Iran and he really spoke it very well, but there were culture references in “Funny in Farsi” that he didn’t understand. One time he emailed me and he said, “What is shake and bake?” I said, “Well, it’s a product that comes in a box and there’s spices and there’s a plastic bag, and you cut up a chicken and you put it in the bag and then you shake the spices in the bag.” I said, “But, the important part is that, in the commercials, when the lady is doing this she’s always really joyful.”

Mullins: [laughs] She’s dancing.

Dumas: He emailed me and he said, “I don’t think I can translate that.”

Mullins: [laughs] There is no translation. But you think he did a really good job otherwise at bringing humor to this bit of Iranian-American literature. You heard from a lot of Iranians, so it was successful, it was selling a lot of copies.

Dumas: Well, the Persian version of “Funny in Farsi” sold about 100,000 copies and it has since been… It’s no longer allowed to be published because the censors decided it needed to be further censored. But, the 100,000 copies that it sold is an unbelievable number for a country like Iran which is about the size of Texas.

Mullins: When you say that the government banned it for further censorship, how was it censored, to begin with?

Dumas: Well, there was one entire chapter that was called “A ham amendment” that was removed.

Mullins: What was the ham amendment?

Dumas: The ham amendment is a story about my father who in 1953 won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in America. During the year that he was in America, he fell in love with democracy, jello and ham. Obviously, he’s still working on the democracy, but that entire chapter was removed.

Mullins: Do you think, Firoozeh, that it was Mohammed’s translation, the fact that he translated your book that landed him in trouble? Or, do you think it was something entirely separate?

Dumas: I don’t know. What I do know is that he did become known because of the translation and I know that others associated with the book have been visited by the government. I don’t know what the reason is for his arrest but, given that lately bloggers, journalists have all been imprisoned, I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t think anybody really does, but I think he’s been swept up in something that is much bigger than we understand.

Mullins: You’re drawing attention to it now, for what reason?

Dumas: Well, I feel that when someone is taken away to a prison without any reason whatsoever, without the ability to have a lawyer, without the ability to have what we in America call due process, it is up to the rest of us to keep this person’s name alive. Now, I have to say I do hope people understand there are so many others like him that I’m also thinking of, but I’m hoping that by drawing attention to Mohammed’s case that others will also get attention.

Mullins: Firoozeh Dumas is an Iranian-American writer and author of the book “Funny in Farsi” as well as other books. She spoke with us about the arrest in Iran of her translator Mohammed Soleimani Nia. Thank you very much.

Dumas: Thank you so much Lisa. It’s always a pleasure.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN:  The mothers of those three American hikers detained in Iran are attempting a charm offensive of their own.  They’re heading to Tehran to appeal for the release of their children.  The three were arrested along the Iran/Iraq border.  They’ve been jailed in Iran since last July and have yet to be brought to trial or charged with a crime.  The mothers are asking the U.S. government to help secure the release of their children, but what is the role of governments in securing the release of civilians detained in dangerous places?  The World’s Jason Margolis has more.

JASON MARGOLIS:  Last year the French government talked about drawing a line in the sand.  The French foreign minister drafted a law that said hostage victims who ignore official advice and stray into dangerous place, they’ll have to pay the bill for protecting their well being or for being rescued.  The proposed French law raises a question.  If travelers know that a government won’t come to their rescue, or at least that they’ll have to pay for it, will this minimize risk taking behavior?  Jack Matlock, former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union says probably not.

JACK MATLOCK:  The people who wandered into North Korea, they were warned locally, not only by officials, they still went anyway.

MARGOLIS: Matlock is referring to two journalists who were captured last year by North Korea.  They were released after feverish diplomacy and a visit by former President Bill Clinton.  Gary Sick, a professor of Middle East Politics at Columbia University says when U.S. citizens are taken, even if they are at fault, the government has to respond.

GARY SICK:  It’s very hard for a government to say oh I’m sorry, they made a mistake, they happen to be citizens of our, but you know we’re not going to bother with it.  It’s easy to say something like that perhaps; it’s very hard to do for a political party or political foreign administration.

MARGOLIS: With regards to the hikers held in Iran, Jack Matlock says the question is not whether the U.S. government is obliged to do something.  The better question is what can the government do?

MATLOCK:  Not only do we have no official relations, but our political relations are very difficult.  The ability of the government to help is going to be extremely limited, and maybe even counter-productive.

MARGOLIS: That’s because hostages often become political footballs.  That’s already happening with the three hikers in Iran, says Gary Sick.  Several Iranians have been extradited to the United States where they’re being held.  Now Iran is saying you’ve got some of our citizens, we’ve got some of yours.

SICK:  And it was pretty clear that they were saying if you want to swap, okay let’s do that.  But it hasn’t happened yet and I don’t know whether it will.

MARGOLIS: The story of the detained hikers is of course not just about politics and strained diplomatic relations; there’s a human element.  Cindy Hickey is the mother of one of the captured hikers, 27-year-old freelance journalist Shane Bauer.

CINDY HICKEY:  I spoke to my son in March when he called and that phone call lasted for a minute.  It began with Mom this is Shane, I love you, I miss you, I’m strong how are you?  I answered him saying I love you and I miss you and I’m very strong and determined and that won’t end until you get home.

MARGOLIS: Hickey says her son simply went hiking with some friends.  She says she doesn’t know much about what the two governments are doing to secure her son’s release.

HICKEY:  We really ask that the two governments set aside the politics and work from their hearts and release our children.

MARGOLIS: The State Department is working for the release of the three American hikers.  It has never suggested that the families will have to pay for its diplomatic efforts.  For The World, I’m Jason Margolis.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

Pomegranates
Raks, Raks, Raks

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

KATY CLARK: I’m Katy Clark and this is The World. A blogger named Hossein Derakhshan was arrested in Tehran on November 1, 2008. He’d only been in Iran for two months. Derakhshan is a dual citizen of Iran and Canada. While in Toronto in 2001 he created one of the first Persian-language blogs and became a pioneer of the Iranian blogoshpere. It’s been a year since his arrest but details of his case are still murky. Iran has said little about it and his family has largely kept silent. Until now. Cyrus Farivar reports.

CYRUS FARIVAR: Last week Hossein’s father, Hassan Derakhshan, published an open letter in the Iranian reformist newspaper Salaam. It was addressed to the new head of the Iranian judiciary system. In it he said the family has only had just two short meetings with Hossein and they have no information about his legal situation. And that’s why a year after his brother’s arrest Hamed Derakhshan began speaking to the press. In an interview with The World Hamed Derakhshan told me he can’t afford to be silent anymore.

HAMED DERAKHSHAN: They have told us that it would be better for him. His case would be processed faster if there is no unwanted attention to it. But now I feel that you know I’ve got to do something about it.

FARIVAR: Hamed Derakhshan says his family still has very little information about his brother. They don’t even know what prison he’s being held in.

HAMED DERAKHSHAN: We don’t officially know what his charges are. There were rumors in the beginning that his charges are insulting religious figures. And then we heard about spying for Israel. But officially, now we don’t know what they are.

FARIVAR: With no real information out there, rumors have rampant in the Persian-language internet. Some even speculate that Hossein Derakhshan was collaborating with the Iranian government and perhaps spying for them. His brother Hamed Derakhshan denies these charges and says that the family continues to press authorities for more information. The Iranian government isn’t speaking about Hossein Derakhshan’s case and the Canadian government isn’t saying much either. Canadian officials declined to speak on tape about the case. But Rodney Moore, of the Office of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, sent an e-mail saying Canada continues to press for access to Hossein Derakhshan under international law. He added that Derakhshan’s dual nationality makes things complicated for them. And there are other complications in the case. Before he left for Iran in 2008, Derakhshan said something a little surprising to family and friends. One of them was Pedram Moallemian, an Iranian-Canadian living in Los Angeles.

PEDRAM MOALLEMIAN: He was convinced that the Iranian government and the judiciary system is a fair and adequate one and in case he was arrested he would be fairly treated and represented and he made it very clear that if he is arrested he does not want a big noise made about it outside.

FARIVAR: In his early years as a blogger Derakhshan leaned more towards Iran’s Reformist camp. He initially wanted to build bridges between Iran and the West. He even traveled to Israel on his Canadian passport in 2006. But Derakhshan began to change his political views. Derakhshan ultimately began supporting Iran’s hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his policies says Omid Memarian, an Iran analyst with Human Rights Watch in San Francisco.

OMID MEMARIAN: I think Hossein was smarter than that to become a fan of Ahmadinejad. But he was. He was really into the new government and defending their policies and he was after everybody. Like every single person who was into defending human rights issues, like Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel laureate.

FARIVAR: Derakhshan didn’t just go after Shirin Ebadi. He wrote inflammatory things in his blog about anyone he didn’t agree with. He even accused Memarian of converting to Christianity which is forbidden under Islamic law. In 2007, Derakhshan got slapped with a $2 million libel case. But Memarian says none of this should stop human rights advocates from trying to defend Derakhshan’s rights.

MEMARIAN: Hossein’s case is a human rights case. You know, no matter what Hossein did and no matter what damages he created for people, he has been disappeared for almost a year. He’s trapped and he needs help.

FARIVAR: At this point Derakhshan doesn’t have many friends left who are publicly willing to fight for him. For now it appears Derakhshan will likely continue to remain in an unknown Tehran prison. For The World I’m Cyrus Farivar.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.