Iran's top judge orders probe into American's case

[April 20, 2009]  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's official news agency says the country's judiciary chief has ordered a full investigation into the case of an U.S. journalist convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi's order Monday comes a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Roxana Saberi should be allowed to offer a full defense during her appeal.

The IRNA report says the investigation will be carried out during the appeals process.

President Barack Obama has said he was "gravely concerned" about Saberi and was confident she wasn't involved in espionage.

The case has complicated Obama's efforts to break a 30-year diplomatic deadlock between the two countries.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran urged President Barack Obama on Monday not to comment on the case of a U.S. journalist convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison before learning the details.

Iran has released very few facts about Roxana Saberi's case and initially said she was arrested in January for working without press credentials. The government later charged the 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen with spying for the United States and convicted her in a one-day trial behind closed doors.

The conviction, which Iran announced Saturday, has complicated Obama's efforts to break a 30-year diplomatic deadlock between the two countries.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made some effort to reduce tension from the case, but some analysts believe hard-line judicial officials opposed to improved U.S.-Iran relations could be behind the dispute.

Obama said Sunday he was "gravely concerned" about the safety and well-being of Saberi and was confident she wasn't involved in espionage, sparking a response from Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi.

"I advise those who studied law not to comment on a case without seeing its context," Qashqavi told reporters during his weekly press briefing Monday.

Obama studied law at Harvard University and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago before becoming president.

Qashqavi said Saberi's charges included "gathering information and news in an illegal way." He said Saberi was treated like any other Iranian citizen during her trial. Iran's legal system does not recognize dual nationality.

The journalist's Iranian-born father, Reza Saberi, has said his daughter was not provided a proper defense during her trial. He called the proceedings "a mock trial" during an interview with CNN on Sunday from Iran, where he traveled with his wife to seek his daughter's release.

The U.S. has called the charges against Saberi baseless and said Iran would gain U.S. goodwill if it "responded in a positive way" to the case.

Ahmadinejad sent a letter to Tehran's chief prosecutor Sunday urging him to ensure Saberi be allowed to offer a full defense during her appeal, a sign he does not want the case to derail a move toward dialogue with the U.S.

The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Relations deteriorated further under former President George W. Bush, who labeled Iran as part of the so-called "Axis of Evil."

A few days before Saberi's sentence was announced, Ahmadinejad gave the clearest signal yet that Iran was ready for a new relationship with the U.S.

However, many hard-liners in Iran are opposed to improved U.S.-Iran relations.

The hard-line Iranian newspaper Jomhuri criticized Ahmadinejad's letter to the Tehran prosecutor in an editorial Monday, saying government intervention in the judiciary was banned by the constitution. It also said the letter implied the judiciary had not upheld Saberi's rights.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Monday he wants to travel to Iran with a delegation to personally appeal for Saberi's release.

"We need all those that have a voice to help us appeal to Iran to please let her go," Jackson said at a university forum during a visit to Malaysia.

"Leaders of wisdom must not allow this young woman to be a pawn in a bigger debate and lose focus on so many possibilities," Jackson added.

Some analysts have speculated Iran is using Saberi's case as a way to gain leverage over the U.S., possibly to procure the release of five Iranian diplomats detained in northern Iraq in 2007.

Qashqavi, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, rejected the link between Saberi and the diplomats Monday, saying her case has been "linked to irrelevant issues."

Saberi was born in the U.S. and grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, where she was crowned Miss North Dakota in 1997. She had been living in Iran for six years and worked as a freelance reporter for news organizations including National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.

Her father said she had been working on a book about Iranian culture and hoped to finish it and return to the U.S. this year.

[Associated Press]

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