U.S. journalist tried for spying, Iran says
It said a verdict on the woman, a dual citizen, is due soon. The U.S. calls the charges baseless.
WASHINGTON - An Iranian American journalist accused by Iran of spying for the United States has been tried behind closed doors, Iran's judiciary said yesterday, and a verdict is expected in one to two weeks.
Roxana Saberi, 31, "has been charged with spying for foreigners. The first session of the court was held Monday and her last defense was heard," judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.
Jamshidi said it was up to the judge to decide whether future hearings would be open to the public.
Washington says the charges against Saberi, who holds both Iranian and U.S. citizenship, are baseless and has demanded her immediate release.
Iranian law does not recognize Saberi's U.S. nationality and regards her as an Iranian citizen. Jamshidi dismissed the U.S. call to free her, saying that "giving an opinion on a case, by an individual or a government, without being informed about the facts in it, is utterly ridiculous."
Before Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance revoked Saberi's press credentials in 2006, without specifying why, she did freelance work for the BBC, U.S.-based National Public Radio, and other news organizations.
She remained in the country, and according to her parents is writing a book.
Saberi was arrested in late January for buying alcohol, which is illegal in Iran. Last week, however, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation: spying for the United States.
"This accused has been coming and going to certain government circles under the cover of reporter and without a permit," Judge Sohrab Heydarifard told state television Thursday. "She has perpetrated actions to compile and gather information and documents and transferred them to American intelligence services."
Spying is a serious accusation in Iran, where political leaders regularly accuse the U.S. and Britain of espionage activities and support for groups known to have committed terrorist acts against Iranians. The heaviest punishment for espionage is death.
In one of Iran's most recent high-profile cases, a well-connected former Iranian official working as a businessman selling telecommunications equipment was convicted of spying on the military for Israel and hanged in 2008.
Saberi's parents, Reza and Akiko Saberi, met with her in prison yesterday, wire services reported. They traveled to Tehran from their home in Fargo, N.D.
"We met Roxana today for a few minutes and she is doing well," Reza Saberi told Agence France-Presse. "We are waiting for the judge to make a decision. . . . There is always hope. But we don't know what will happen."