US student faces jail term in Tehran

Tehran: Iranian authorities on Monday released on $200,000 (Dh734,000) bail a California State University, Northridge graduate student who was arrested last month, according to her father.

Esha Momeni, a dual US and Iranian national who was visiting Iran to research a master's thesis, may not leave the country and must stand before a political tribunal to face charges of "acting against national security" and "propagating against the system", said Reza Momeni, her father. The charges carry lengthy prison sentences.

In a brief telephone interview, Momeni said his 28-year-old daughter had lost about 7.5kg but otherwise appeared to be in good health. He said he had to put up the deed to his family's Tehran apartment as collateral to win his Los Angeles-born daughter's release from prison. "I hope she will go back to L.A. soon," he said.

"But for now, the authorities told us she is forbidden to go out. Tomorrow, we will be in court, and they will tell us what the next step will be."

Esha Momeni moved to Iran with her family at a young age but returned to the US to study after her divorce in 2005. She travelled to Iran about 10 weeks ago to videotape interviews with women's rights activists as part of master's project. She was focusing on members of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality, a group that advocates Iranian women's rights.