CSUN Grad Student Imprisoned in Iran Returns to U.S.

CSUN Mass Communications grad student Esha Momeni, who was arrested in Iran last October while working on a documentary on the Middle Eastern country's women's rights movement, finally returned home Tuesday after a 10-month travel ban.

“I didn’t believe I was leaving until I got into the plane, they closed the plane’s door and started going,” the 29-year-old told CSUN's Daily Sundial.

Momeni had been filming interviews with volunteers of the One Million Signatures Campaign for her thesis project. After being pulled over by undercover police for allegedly passing another car illegally on a highway in Tehran October 15, the student was subsequently held in Evin prison for 28 days until being released.

Though officials initially said she was free to leave Iran, friends and family said Momeni's passports had been seized by authorities. A government spokesperson then said the student would be charged with "acting against national security."