Kian Tajbakhsh, one of the American hostages freed by Iran last week, is a graduate of Columbia University.

Noting the proximity of the release to the announcement of the invitation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to Columbia last Wednesday, School of International and Public Affairs Dean John Coatsworth said that “the timing is fortuitous and the coincidence of the two events is happy news.” “On behalf of the entire Columbia community, I want to say how relieved we are to hear of Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh’s release from prison in Tehran. Months ago, I joined the chorus of voices calling for the government of Iran to free Dr. Tajbakhsh,” University President Lee Bollinger said in a statement released last Friday. “In recent discussions with the Iranian Mission, I communicated that I would raise his case—among many other issues—directly and publicly if President Ahmadinejad came to speak on our campus,” Bollinger added.

Yes, the two were in no way related.