Calif. grad student held in Iranian prison

TEHRAN, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A California State University Northridge student is being held in Iran after being arrested last week after a traffic stop, officials said.

Esha Momeni, 28, was in the Islamic republic to work on a documentary about the Iranian women's movement for her master's thesis, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Friday.

American-born Momeni was reportedly detained while driving on a Tehran highway, where she was stopped for illegally passing another vehicle.

The newspaper reported that Iranian authorities then went to Momeni's home in Iran and confiscated her computers and films.

Momeni, a member of the California branch of the Campaign for Equality -- a group collecting 1 million signatures to seek better treatment of women in Iran -- is being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence.

Hassan Hussein, a friend who is in contact with her family in Iran, said Momeni was able to call her family in Iran two days after her arrest, but she has not made any contact since.