OKLAHOMA CITY — A University of Oklahoma professor is back home resting after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for three days.
Doctor Vahid Abedini was about to board a plane in Oklahoma City for a conference in Washington, D.C.
The professor of Iranian studies just started working at OU in June of 2025.
Dr. Joshua Landis, his colleague, said he on an H-1B visa, which allows him to legally work at the university, and that he is highly respected and liked.
“The entire department was wringing its hands with anxiety over his arrest and there have been claps of joy and relief,” said Landis.
WATCH: OU professor out of ICE custody after detainment
2News asked him what the situation says to him about ICE.
“Well, it says clearly ICE has orders to arrest people, and question them, particularly Iranian nationals. They stress the Iranian national. That is their primary reason for detaining him, because he was born in Iran,” said Landis.
State Representative Jacob Rosecrants believes social media attention helped facilitate his release. Rosecrants has concerns that ICE agents in Oklahoma do not have to identify themselves.
“They are supposed to be there to protect and serve—it doesn’t look like any kind of vetting is going on, you know, they are just scaring the holy crap out of him,” said Rosecrants.
In a post on LinkedIn, Dr. Abedini called the experience “deeply distressing, especially seeing those without the support I had,” he wrote. He thanked his colleagues and friends for helping resolve the situation.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement stating, “The Iranian national was detained for standard questioning, he has been released.”
The statement did not offer any further details.
California and Connecticut have recently passed laws that restrict ICE detainments and increase their transparency.
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