US wants Swiss consulate to see detained journalist
The United States said Monday it wants a representative from the consulate of Switzerland, which represents US interests in Iran, to see an Iranian-American journalist being held in Tehran.
The journalist, Roxana Saberi, has met with a lawyer for the first time since she was detained in a Tehran prison more than a month ago, according to the attorney, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi.
State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood confirmed she had met with a lawyer, but said Washington "has requested that (the Swiss) go in and seek additional information from the government of Iran on this particular case.
"We want our Swiss protecting power to have consular access, to be granted consular access, and that there be a transparent judicial process along the way," he added.
But he also recalled that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised to do everything possible to bring her home to the United States.
"We're working with the Swiss to try to see what we can do, in terms of getting more information," Wood said.
Khoramshahi told AFP that Saberi appeared "fine" when he met with her Sunday at a revolutionary court.
Human rights activists often complain that prisoners do not get quick and easy access to defense lawyers in the Islamic republic.
Khoramshahi said he could not confirm or deny comments by Tehran's deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad who was quoted as saying Friday that Saberi would be released within a few days.
US-born Saberi, 31, was arrested in late January on charges of buying alcohol, which is prohibited in the Islamic republic, American media said, citing her father.
The Iranian foreign ministry has said Saberi, who also holds an Iranian passport, was working "illegally" in the country after her press card was revoked in 2006.
Iran's judiciary later said she had been arrested on the orders of a revolutionary court, which handles security charges in Iran, and kept in Tehran's Evin prison.
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