If Iran wishes to escalate tensions with the United States, it is doing a great job with this month's seizure of a U.S. citizen.
The details of Esha Momeni's arrest should outrage any American: The California graduate student and Los Angeles native journeyed to Iran not just to visit family, but to gather interviews for her thesis on women's rights.
On Oct. 15, she was detained in a traffic stop, but curiously the supposed traffic cops took her home to seize her computer and video footage she had taken while accompanying Iranians on a petition drive to gather a million signatures in support of equality for women. Momeni was then thrown in the notorious Section 209 of Evin Prison, the same prison block - run by Iran's intelligence services - where Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi was raped and tortured to death in 2003. Iran wouldn't even return her body to the Canadian government.
On Monday, the lawyer retained by Momeni's family confirmed that the traffic stop was indeed a pretext and that she is being charged with participation in the women's equality campaign.
Iran does not recognize dual nationality, and thus has persecuted Iranian-Americans without regard to U.S. citizenship. But the fact remains that Momeni is an American, and Iran needs to release her, unharmed, immediately.