Espionage Trial of Iranian-American Journalist Begins in Tehran

UPDATE (14 April): The Iranian judiciary has announced that Roxana Saberi's trial has opened. Spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told a news conference, "The first trial meeting on Roxana Saberi was held yesterday ... I think the verdict will be announced soon, perhaps in the next two or three weeks."

Jamshidi added that US allegations about the fairness of the trial are “ridiculous and against international laws”.

The lawyer for Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi has confirmed that she has been charged with espionage.

Saberi, who has reported from Iran for a number of Western media outlets including US National Public Radio, Fox News, and the BBC, was initially detained in January for purchasing a bottle of wine. Tehran then escalated the charges to reporting without a license.

Saberi's parents were finally allowed to visit her this week, after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had raised her case in a letter presented to Iranian representatives at The Hague conference on Afghanistan, but Saberi was then taken before the Revolutionary Court. The deputy head of the prosecutor's office has claimed, "[Saberi] had been carrying out espionage activities ... under the cover of a journalist ... and she has accepted the accusations." The crime of espionage can be punished by the death penalty in Iran.

According to Iran's Press TV website, the deputy prosecutor has said Saberi's American citizenship would not affect the legal proceedings because Tehran does not recognize dual nationality.