TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that an American journalist convicted of spying for the U.S. should be allowed to offer a full defense during her appeal, a day after she was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The message was a sign that Iran’s leadership does not want the case to derail moves toward a dialogue with the Obama administration to break a 30-year diplomatic deadlock.
The letter came a day after Iran announced the conviction and sentence for Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen. It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of espionage.
President Barack Obama said Sunday he was "gravely concerned” about Saberi’s safety and was confident she wasn’t involved in espionage. The U.S. has called the charges baseless and said Iran would gain U.S. goodwill if it "responded in a positive way” to the case.
It was unclear how far Iran’s ruling hard-line clerics and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are willing to go to achieve better ties. Some of Iran’s hard-liners don’t want warmer ties with the U.S. and are trying to derail efforts, analysts say.
by the associated press
The message was a sign that Iran’s leadership does not want the case to derail moves toward a dialogue with the Obama administration to break a 30-year diplomatic deadlock.
The letter came a day after Iran announced the conviction and sentence for Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen. It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of espionage.
President Barack Obama said Sunday he was "gravely concerned” about Saberi’s safety and was confident she wasn’t involved in espionage. The U.S. has called the charges baseless and said Iran would gain U.S. goodwill if it "responded in a positive way” to the case.
It was unclear how far Iran’s ruling hard-line clerics and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are willing to go to achieve better ties. Some of Iran’s hard-liners don’t want warmer ties with the U.S. and are trying to derail efforts, analysts say.
by the associated press
