US immigration authorities detain Iranian academic with valid visa

TEHRAN (Iran News) Abedini, the Farzaneh Family Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at the Boren College of International Studies, was detained on November 22 while traveling to an academic conference in Washington, DC, HuffPost reported. He is currently in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to an official at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, Abedini was booked into the facility on Saturday and transferred to ICE custody at the Oklahoma City field office on Monday morning, HuffPost reported. No details were provided on why he was detained or handed over to ICE.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have made no official comments, and Abedini’s current whereabouts have not been disclosed.

Vali Nasr, an Iranian-American political scientist and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, posted on X late Monday calling for Abedini’s immediate release.

“He is a respected scholar and teacher, and according to his employer, the University of Oklahoma, his visa is valid. I and all his friends, colleagues, and students call for his immediate release and his return to his work at the university,” Nasr wrote.

Wrongful detention

Joshua Landis, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma, described Abedini’s detention as wrongful, noting that he holds a visa issued to individuals in specialized occupations.

“Dr. Abedini was boarding a flight on his way to attend the Middle East Studies Association conference in Washington, D.C., when he was detained and put in jail on Nov. 22,” Landis wrote on X.

“He has been wrongfully detained because he has a valid H-1B visa — a non-immigrant work visa granted to individuals in ‘specialty occupations,’ including higher education faculty. We are praying for his swift release,” he added.

U.S. immigration crackdown

The administration of President Donald Trump is pressing ahead with plans to deport what it calls undocumented immigrants as part of the Republicans’ hardline immigration agenda. The plan, in full force since Trump returned to office in January this year, has drawn widespread criticism over heavy-handed tactics and the detention of individuals who have legal rights to remain in the United States.