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US 'deeply disappointed' as Iran convicts reporter

BulletWounD

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Iran accuses journalist of spying

Iran accuses journalist of spying
An Iranian-American journalist who has been detained in Iran since January has been accused of spying, according to her lawyer.

Roxana Saberi, held in Evin prison in Tehran since late January, will appear in court next week, the lawyer said.

Originally she had been accused of the less serious offence of buying a bottle of wine.

The authorities then alleged she had been working as a journalist without a valid press card.

Now the deputy public prosecutor has accused her of the very serious crime of spying.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran accuses journalist of spying

By not saying anything when the DPRK took two American journalists hostage one month ago, the Obama administration has sent a loud and clear message to the tyrants of the world: "We don't care." Now it's open season on Americans abroad. Let's see what kind of concessions this twit is going to make to secure her release.

I think they're just jealous that America's women are so beautiful
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Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

By not saying anything when the DPRK took two American journalists hostage one month ago, the Obama administration has sent a loud and clear message to the tyrants of the world: "We don't care."

The arrest of this journalist in Iran was in January, prior to the arrest of the American journalists in the DPRK.
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

The arrest of this journalist in Iran was in January, prior to the arrest of the American journalists in the DPRK.

But it was just recently that they trumped the charges up to "espionage."
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

Here is an update. The trial of Roxana Saberi is over as of today. The sham court heard Saberi's final defense statement and a verdict is expected within two to three weeks. The Obama Administration has claimed the the charges of espionage are baseless. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for her release. Roxana Saberi is an American born to a Iranian father and a Japanese mother. She will most likely hang for this crime for which she is not guilty.

For some reason This story is not getting the coverage it deserves. And this post has been here for 6 days. I guess you people arn't intrested.

American Journalist Roxana Saberi on Trial in Iran for Spying; Could Face Death Penalty | wowOwow

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TEHRAN, April 14 (UPI) -- Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi will receive a verdict in her Tehran spying trial within weeks, Iranian officials said Tuesday.

A spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Alireza Jamshidi Saberi, told the semiofficial Mehr News Agency that Saberi, who freelanced for National Public Radio and the BBC, had completed her defense against spying charges at a trial Monday, CNN reported.

"Jamshidi emphasized that since Roxana Saberi's last defense statement has been completed, therefore the verdict should be forthcoming within the next couple of weeks," Mehr reported.

Officials say Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, N.D., and held dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, has confessed to espionage charges, allegedly admitting her work for the media organizations was a cover.

Her father, Reza Saberi, told CNN his daughter initially thought she had been detained for buying wine. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi
 
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Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

I know I'm probably going to get lambasted, but how do we know she wasn't a spy? I mean, we DO spy on other countries and Iran is definitely one of those countries. She's the perfect candidate to conduct clandestine operations for the intelligence community; dual citizen, background in journalism/photography, female. Sometimes spies get caught.

I'm just saying...
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

I know I'm probably going to get lambasted, but how do we know she wasn't a spy? I mean, we DO spy on other countries and Iran is definitely one of those countries. She's the perfect candidate to conduct clandestine operations for the intelligence community; dual citizen, background in journalism/photography, female. Sometimes spies get caught.

I'm just saying...

It's impossible to prove that she is not. However, I doubt they have sufficient evidence to prove that she is. Look at the progression of the charges.

1) buying wine
2) no press card
3) espionage

In any case, even if she was a "spy," it's a breach of protocol to execute non-citizens accused of espionage. The proper response is to deport them.
 
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran convicted an American journalist of spying for the United States and sentenced her to eight years in prison, her lawyer said Saturday, complicating the Obama administration's efforts to break a 30-year-old diplomatic deadlock with Tehran.
The White House said President Barack Obama was "deeply disappointed" by the conviction, while the journalist's father told a radio station his daughter was tricked into making incriminating statements by officials who told her they would free her if she did.
It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of espionage - a crime that can carry the death penalty.

My Way News - US 'deeply disappointed' as Iran convicts reporter

Fancy.
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

Update

American Journalist Roxana Saberi has been convicted and given 8 years in prison in Iran. Originaly arrested for buying a bottle of wine she will not get out of prison till 2017. For some reason this story is not being covered. does anyone give a damn, apparently not by the response to this thread.

US 'deeply disappointed' as Iran convicts reporter
 
She will most likely not live long enough to finish her 8 year sentence and be realeased. Something has got to be done about this.
 
Iranians needs to understand their whole country can be smashed to bits.
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

I know I'm probably going to get lambasted, but how do we know she wasn't a spy? I mean, we DO spy on other countries and Iran is definitely one of those countries. She's the perfect candidate to conduct clandestine operations for the intelligence community; dual citizen, background in journalism/photography, female. Sometimes spies get caught.

I'm just saying...

Because..... she is hot as hell.
 
Buying wine? Wine is for sale in Iran? Behead the shopkeeper !!!!!
 
She will most likely not live long enough to finish her 8 year sentence and be realeased. Something has got to be done about this.

Hate to say it but, because she was on their soil illegaly I don't believe there is anything we can do.

If our leaders raised a really big public outcry over this then they set themselves up for a really big embarrassment over the outcome which is completely and legally in Iran's control.
 
Yep, this story needs a lot more press. This is when I wish that if we had to have one of the Dem candidates be our president, that Hillary would have been the one. I just don't think Hillary would ignore this cr*p whilst hoping to not offend certain peoples. Sure there's little we can do, but at least Hillary would have been man enough to say to the world that this isn't OK.
 
I don't agree with her sentence, however at the same time there is a reason the U.S. Department of State lists travel warnings.

She shouldn't have gone to Iran (especially being a woman there). She knew full well the risks involved.

That's not saying I agree with Iran's decision, but it does mean that if you know a country is ****ed up, you shouldn't go there when you are an American.
 
Do we trade with Iran? Where does one go to find out what goods are purchased from other countries, by brand name, so we can boycott those goods?
 
She will most likely not live long enough to finish her 8 year sentence and be realeased. Something has got to be done about this.
We should complain to the UN.
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

I know I'm probably going to get lambasted, but how do we know she wasn't a spy? I mean, we DO spy on other countries and Iran is definitely one of those countries. She's the perfect candidate to conduct clandestine operations for the intelligence community; dual citizen, background in journalism/photography, female. Sometimes spies get caught.

I'm just saying...

Good point.

Maybe the reason the U.S. is making such a fuss is because she is a spy.

Of course, most spies are disavowed (not acknowledged) when they are discovered.
 
Hate to say it but, because she was on their soil illegaly I don't believe there is anything we can do.

If our leaders raised a really big public outcry over this then they set themselves up for a really big embarrassment over the outcome which is completely and legally in Iran's control.

She's a dual citizen. She is NOT illegal.
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

Good point.

Maybe the reason the U.S. is making such a fuss is because she is a spy.

Of course, most spies are disavowed (not acknowledged) when they are discovered.

Precisely. Standard operating procedure for the government is to disavow any association and affirm the cover-story. Either way, I have no desire to see her fate decided by the Iranian "justice" system, but that is the price you pay for either:

a. Being a spy.

or

b. Going to Iran.

Americans, even dual citizens, should not go to Iran, and it would be a shame if this situation derailed President Obama's diplomatic efforts in the region. Not that I'm very supportive of the means he chooses to employ but I can empathize with the ends he seeks, and I also believe a President should fail not by mere virtue of happenstance but of their own volition.

Having said that, I feel it is appropriate for President Obama to take somewhat of a middle position in regards to this woman's imprisonment. Yes, he should voice his disapproval but only to a certain degree. Why should we sacrifice an entire political agenda for a person who, at the very least, was careless or, at the very worst, really was a spy? Diplomatic relations with Iran effect the entire world and this woman's safety is not sufficient cause disrupt the President's international agenda. Tragic, yes. Unfair, no.
 
Re: Iran accuses journalist of spying

Precisely. Standard operating procedure for the government is to disavow any association and affirm the cover-story. Either way, I have no desire to see her fate decided by the Iranian "justice" system, but that is the price you pay for either:

a. Being a spy.

or

b. Going to Iran.

Americans, even dual citizens, should not go to Iran, and it would be a shame if this situation derailed President Obama's diplomatic efforts in the region. Not that I'm very supportive of the means he chooses to employ but I can empathize with the ends he seeks, and I also believe a President should fail not by mere virtue of happenstance but of their own volition.

Having said that, I feel it is appropriate for President Obama to take somewhat of a middle position in regards to this woman's imprisonment. Yes, he should voice his disapproval but only to a certain degree. Why should we sacrifice an entire political agenda for a person who, at the very least, was careless or, at the very worst, really was a spy? Diplomatic relations with Iran effect the entire world and this woman's safety is not sufficient cause disrupt the President's international agenda. Tragic, yes. Unfair, no.

True.

Very sad.... but true.
 
You know this is disturbing, and I tend not to trust anything coming out of Iran's government to be even remotely truthful until it's been corroborated by some other source of information. I am worried about this woman's future.

Here is my take on this. I understand the argument that she may actually be a spy, and I understand the argument that she may have been there without the permission of the Iranian government (which I think is wrong, the issue I believe is she was "working without press credentials"). But even if she was a spy for the U.S., even if she was somehow fomenting dissent among Iranians...she's still an American. And if she was in fact a spy, she was doing her duty. If she was in fact fomenting dissent among Iranians, then God bless her even more.

Would any here argue that the Velvet Revolution in Europe was a bad thing? Did anyone have any issue with the Solidarity movement in Poland? How about the Prague Spring? It been long established that we covertly supported these movements and that we were just in doing so.

So I guess my question is this: Spy or not, why would we not do everything in our power (short of a full scale shooting war I suppose) to bring this woman home?
 
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