An emotional homecoming

The car charged up behind Esha Momeni, at what seemed like 100 mph, before cutting her off and planting itself in front of her vehicle.

Her body froze as an armed man jumped into her passenger seat. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted two other men waiting outside.

She tried to run, to yell, but there was nowhere to go and no one to hear her on the lonely road. She assumed the men were planning to rob her.

"I sat in the middle of the highway screaming," Momeni recalled. "Then they surrounded me and showed me the warrant."

Momeni, a 29-year-old graduate student at California State University, Northridge, recalled in a detailed interview Saturday her experience being arrested by Iranian authorities last fall and thrown into solitary confinement at a notorious prison for almost a month.

Initially her only "crime" was a traffic violation, but she soon faced charges of acting against Iran's national security - based on her filming a documentary on the Iranian feminist movement for her master's thesis.

She never underwent a trial and was finally allowed to leave the country this month, returning home Tuesday for an emotional welcome from family and friends.

Momeni, who was born in the United States but raised in Iran, had often told her American friends - and her professors - that Iran was safe.

"I never imagined anything like this was going to happen," Momeni said, during the interview over coffee at a cafe near her Westwood home.

"I wasn't doing anything illegal. I had nothing to hide."

She calmly outlined the details of her experience, recalling even the most harrowing events with ease.

She was arrested only six days before she was to fly back to the United States. Minutes after her arrest she was taken to her parents' home, which Iranian intelligence officers searched, confiscating her computer, 55 hours of video footage, and her books and notes.

"They took everything," she said."Three years of my work."

The materials, crucial for her master's thesis, consisted primarily of interviews with women in the One Million Signatures Campaign, calling for gender equality in Iran.

Iranian law still allows polygamy for men and bans women from being judges and from other prestigious occupations. Its judiciary system also favors men in divorce and custody cases, Momeni said, while women who refuse to wear a hijab - a Muslim head covering - can be fined or jailed.

Momeni knew many women activists had been sent to Evin Prison, especially to Section 209 - an area reserved for political prisoners.

It didn't take long for her to realize that was where she, too, was now being taken.

She was blindfolded and taken to a closet-size cell where she would spend the next 25 days with almost no human contact. After solitary, she spent three days in a cell with three female prisoners before she was released.

"At first I cried, I screamed," Momeni said.

Eventually she said she grew accustomed to the silence.

"It's amazing how quickly as humans we can adapt. I remember at one point believing that I'd never leave, and telling myself that it would be OK if I stayed there."

Most of her human contact was with the prison interrogators who tried to get Momeni to confess to being a member of an underground revolution.

On Nov. 10, 28 days later and 12 pounds lighter, Momeni was released from Evin prison on $200,000 bail.

Her friends and relatives celebrated but for Momeni her relief was tempered by a travel ban keeping her in the country.

"My life was being watched and controlled. I felt scared," Momeni said.

"At least being in prison my status was certain."

The next nine months were full of court appearances and interviews with government officials as she tried to find her way back to Los Angeles.

Even with limited access to the Internet, Momeni learned of the relentless letter-writing campaigns and petitions that were distributed by her friends and peers.

"I am very grateful for the support I received and I want to thank everyone, in particular the students, faculty and administration at CSUN and the members of the One Million Signatures Campaign in Los Angeles," Momeni said.

Momeni said the entire experience has made her more patient, motivated and focused on her life's purpose.

She was also glad she could be in Iran for the June 12 elections to witness the political dissent on the streets of Tehran and the role women played in the aftermath of the contested election results.

"I always knew those women were there, they have been fighting for equality for 100 years ... that is why I wanted to do my film project, to tell their story."

Momeni never got her documentary materials back, but plans to finish her graduate degree at CSUN. Her master's thesis will focus on her prison experience, but she is not sure what shape or form it will take.

Momeni also became engaged while in Iran to her longtime friend Hassan Hussein. But she has no immediate plans to start shopping for wedding gowns.

"This experience has made me more motivated and more certain of what I want to do in my personal fight for social justice," Momeni said.

She is more focused on fighting for other political prisoners.

"I will still fight for women's rights, but a woman's right to live has to be more important than her right to a fair divorce trial," she said.

Momeni also realizes that, now that her name has become known around the world, her story can help carry an important message - and that is a job she does not take lightly.

"What was once a choice I now feel is a duty," she said.

"I know I have the freedom to tell my story when many don't, and I want to use that to bring awareness to the human rights issues that are not just happening in Iran but around the world. I will never stop fighting."