 Until the announcement of Esfandiari's detention, both Bakhash and the Wilson Center chose not to publicize her case, hoping that by keeping quiet, her travel documents would eventually be returned and she would be allowed to return to the U.S.In February 2007, the Center's president, the former U.S. Representative Lee H. Hamilton, sent letters to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, in which he asked for assistance in obtaining Esfandiari's release.Ahmadinejad did not reply, but Zarif "indicated that he wanted to be helpful".