In my  38 years of reporting
I’ve covered multiple presidential administrations
and plenty of DC intrigue,
but still, nothing compares to my unscheduled stay
in a foreign prison.
It was 1987
and I was in Iran as part of a press group
invited to cover the war with Iraq.
We visited the war front during an artillery exchange
and spent a night in a bunker filled with maps
before returning to Tehran.
As we prepared to leave,
Iranian officials inexplicably withheld my passport.
We had returned to our hotel parking lot
when a vehicle abruptly pulled up alongside us.
Four men in military camouflage
got out and threw me in the back seat of their car.
I was blindfolded and berated the entire ride
until reaching Evin Prison,
a notorious detention center for political detainees.
They were accusing me of espionage.
I spent most of the time in an interrogation room
and one night in a hot, brightly lit cell.
For days, they accused me of spying and pressed me to confess,
but I stood my ground.
Then on the fourth day, I was told I was free to go,
just like that.
They led me to the gates where I removed my blindfold
and turned towards one of my captors.
He shook my hand and asked,
“Can I have your business card?
If I come to America, I would like to call you.”
Since then, I’ve interviewed world leaders
and covered major international events,
but that story still stands as the easiest
and the hardest of my entire career.
I gave the guy my business card.
I never heard from him.
My name is Jerry Seib,
I’m Executive Washington Editor
for The Wall Street Journal.
