IND:  Although we are in no position to pass judgment because we weren’t held captive by this brutal regime as Mr. Bahari was, we are rather disappointed with this essay.  As someone who benefited so much from international media coverage, unlike so many other political prisoners in Iran, Mr. Bahari hardly mentioned anything about the importance of rallying the international media to focus on Iran’s human rights abuses in order to make it more difficult for the regime to crack down on Iran’s democratic dissidents.

After being jailed, interrogated and beaten by the Revolutionary Guards for 118 days for reporting honestly on the disputed June 12 presidential elections, I am often expected to oppose any dialogue. But the West still needs Iran and should continue talking to it — no matter what it has done to people like me…So can the West, especially the United States, have a dialogue with these people? Yes.  Only by engaging, even with a more radical regime, can the West force Tehran to measure the costs and benefits of dealing with the outside world.