On 17 July 2005, Eli Lake made an interview with Fakhravar while on temporarily release to participate in his university exams, in which he said "I forgot to report back to prison" and that he was going to ignore his arrest warrant. In October 2005, RFE/RL reported that Fakhravar has been on furlough since June of the same year, and has told them about his decision to refuse returning to prison and his sister of being informed at the court that government forces are authorized to shoot him on sight.