Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

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CCS Requests the Release of Iranian Graduate Student

July 15, 2011

Omid Kokabee

Graduate Student Omid Kokabee

CCS writes an open letter to Iran”s Ayatollah Khamene’i requesting release from jail of Omid Kokabee, Iranian graduate student in optics at the University of Texas, who had returned to Iran to visit family.

Read our letter:

July 14, 2011

His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i The Supreme Leader, The Islamic Republic of Iran Tehran Your Eminence, Grand Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khamene’I:

We are writing to ask Your Eminence to correct a grave mistake made by the government officials in jailing Omid Kokabee, an Iranian doctoral student at the University of Texas – Austin. Mr. Kokabee was arrested at Tehran airport on a visit of his parents last winter. We were told that he was held at Evin prison and that he would soon stand trial on charges of “communicating with hostile government” and “illegitimate earnings”.

Learn More

Iranian physics student faces trial for spying, Nature, July 15, 2011

Missing physicist may have been jailed in Iran, Nature, May 16, 2011

Physics student awaits espionage trial in Iran, Physics World, July 15, 2011

We are an independent non-government organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars. Our contacts with Omid Kokabee’s professors and fellow students at the University of Texas, as well as at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, where Omid obtained his Masters Degree in optics before coming to Texas, all confirm that he was dedicated to his studies and refrained from engaging in politics. He was paid for his teaching assistantship within regular support package provided to all first-year U.S. and international doctoral students by the University of Texas and not by the United States Government or any of its agencies.

Some reports indicate that Mr. Kokabee might have been suspected in the exchange of information on nuclear technology. As scientists, we can assure you, that his research and studies had nothing to do with nuclear energy. His education and his Ph.D. project are in optics. He appears to be a talented young scientist whose studies have been interrupted for no good reason. If Omid is given opportunity to continue his research, he will be able to bring important skills and honor to your great country.

Imprisonment of Omid Kokabee and his upcoming trial have planted fear in the hearts of Iranian students that are currently studying abroad. Instead of bringing their skills and knowledge back to Iran, many of them are re-thinking their future in fear of reprisal on their return home. We trust that your wisdom will direct you to disperse this fear by promptly allowing Mr. Kokabee to return to his doctoral studies abroad and to travel freely to Iran, his native country.

Thank you for your consideration of this letter.

With our highest regards,

Eugene Chudnovsky
Alexander Greer
Joel Lebowitz
Walter Reich
Paul Plotz
Co-chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Filed Under: CCS Cases, Iran Tagged With: Omid Kokabee, Scientists

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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Committee of Concerned Scientists

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