Iran General NewsUS journalist held in Iran in 'dangerous' state

US journalist held in Iran in ‘dangerous’ state

-

ImageAFP: A US journalist who was supposed to have been freed from an Iranian jail has been reduced to a "dangerous" mental state by her continued imprisonment, her family said Thursday.

ImageCHICAGO (AFP) — A US journalist who was supposed to have been freed from an Iranian jail has been reduced to a "dangerous" mental state by her continued imprisonment, her family said Thursday.

"She is under great psychological pressure and her condition seems to be dangerous now," Reza and Akiko Saberi wrote in an open letter begging Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to release their daughter.

"We are very worried about her health and fear that something tragic may happen to her."

On March 9, the ISNA news agency reported that Hassan Haddad, Tehran's deputy prosecutor for security matters, said Roxana Saberi, 31, would be freed "within a few days."

But when the family's lawyer attempted to make a bail payment, he was told that officials "cannot free her now," her father Reza Saberi said in a telephone interview.

"They didn't tell the lawyer what they're going to do next."

The US-born journalist with dual Iranian nationality was sobbing when she was visited Wednesday by her lawyer, her father said.

"I know my daughter. She's very sensitive. To keep her in confinement for 47 days and not tell her what will happen — it's very hard on her," said Saberi, who now lives in North Dakota after immigrating from Iran decades ago.

"Physically there doesn't seem to be any harm but her mentality has been very poor."

Saberi has only spoken to his daughter once since her January arrest on what he initially thought to be charges of buying alcohol, which is prohibited in the Islamic republic.

He later came to believe she was arrested for her work as a reporter.

The Iranian foreign ministry said in February that Saberi was working "illegally" in the country after her press card was revoked in 2006.

Later Iran's judiciary said she had been arrested on the orders of a revolutionary court, which handles security charges in Iran, and kept in Tehran's Evin prison.

Saberi, who has reported for NPR, the BBC and Fox News, has been living in Iran for six years, working as a journalist and pursuing a master's degree in Iranian studies and international relations.

She was also writing a book about Iran, her father said, and was planning to move back to the United States later this year.

Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality and has had no ties with the United States for three decades, has detained several Iranian-Americans, including academics, in recent years.

Former FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing for two years since vanishing on the Gulf island of Kish. On March 8 the US State Department reiterated its call for Iran to help locate him, but has said no information has been forthcoming from Tehran on the case.

Latest news

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Iran’s Youths Have Highest Unemployment Rate

The Iranian regime’s Eghtesad News website reported that data from the Statistical Center of Iran shows that the youth...

Must read

Iran first into Asian Cup quarter-finals

AFP: Three-time champions Iran swept aside North Korea 1-0...

US must be removed from Islamic world: Khamenei

AFP: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you