Region | Iran
Parents of US reporter visit her in prison
The parents of an American journalist imprisoned in Iran for allegedly spying for the US visited their daughter on Monday for the first time since she was sentenced to eight years in prison and said she was in good condition.
- AP
- Published: 21:44 April 20, 2009
Tehran: The parents of an American journalist imprisoned in Iran for allegedly spying for the US visited their daughter on Monday for the first time since she was sentenced to eight years in prison and said she was in good condition.
The country's judiciary chief ordered a full investigation into 31-year-old Roxana Saberi's case, a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked the chief Tehran prosecutor to ensure she is allowed to offer a full defence in the appeal.
"She seems to be OK," Saberi's Iranian-born father, Reza, told The Associated Press after he and his wife visited their daughter in Evin prison north of Tehran. Roxana Saberi, who was born in the US and grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, was convicted last week after a one-day trial behind closed doors.
The developments appear to be the latest signs that some senior Iranian officials want to ensure tensions over the case do not derail moves toward a dialogue with the Obama administration to break a 30-year diplomatic deadlock between the two countries.
However, Iran's Foreign Ministry took a swipe yesterday at President Barack Obama, saying "those who studied law" should not comment on the case without seeing the context. It was a clear reference to Obama, who has a law degree from Harvard University and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago before becoming president.
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