in 2007 shakeri went to iran to visit his mother, who was ill and died during his visit. on may 8, 2007 while in iran he was detained by the iranian government, one of four americans detained by the iranian government in a short period. the others were kian tajbakhsh, haleh esfandiari and parnaz azima. on june 8, 2007, the iranian student news agency confirmed the detention. he was released on september 25, 2007. and the other three were also released "in phases, from prison or allowed to leave the country ... in the run-up to president ahmadinejad's" september 2007 speech before the united nations.