Iranian government is harassing nation's Nobel winner family members

Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi talked about Iranian government crackdown on protests. He told that government's effort to crackdown anti-government demonstrations will increase will power of protesters. Talking to a popular news agency, Ebadi told "The heavier the crackdown, the more determined people will be to protest, as events in the past have shown. The higher levels of crackdown have radicalized the people."She told that sanctions on Iran's nuclear program will not damage the Islamic regime but will only  increase the nationalistic sentiments of the Iranian people. She suggested that sanctions should target issues that impact the government and not those that affect the common people. Citing an example she said recently Iranian government decided to import anti-riot tanks not from the United States but from China and Russia. She told that government should stop making transactions to torture common people.

Ebadi is in the United Kingdom but did not reveal her exact location because of security reasons. She has not been in Iran since protests arose in the wake of the controversial June 12 presidential election.She expressed hope that Iranian parliament would allow U.S. Senator John Kerry to visit the country, but didn't have any expectation from senator's  visit. Ebadi, who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, expressed concern for her sister Nushin Ebadi, 47, who is in custody of Iranian police after being detained a week ago.She has lost contact with her sister. She is also concerned about her other family members. Shirin Ebadi,62, told that her sister never participated in any protest. She informed that Nushin and her husband are professors of dentistry at Azad University in Tehran. Iranian authorities also harassed  other members of her family. Her husband, brother and sister were summoned on several occasions to the intelligence ministry.