NEW YORK—Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, 45, is a distinguished scholar and an American citizen. He is a consultant for the Open Society Institute and has also worked for other international organizations including The World Bank and a European urban planning organization, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities.
Dr. Tajbakhsh was detained in Iran on or about May 11.
OSI retained his services in 2004 as a consultant to facilitate public health, humanitarian assistance and urban planning projects that we undertook openly and with the knowledge of the Iranian government. Dr.Tajbakhsh holds a doctorate in urban planning from Columbia University and was a professor at The New School in New York City for seven years and is a senior research fellow there.
We are concerned for his safety and call for his immediate release.