TEHRAN, March 4 (UPI) -- A reporters' advocacy group said Wednesday it is concerned over the fate of Roxana Saberi, a U.S. free-lance radio reporter arrested last month in Iran.
Reporters Without Borders said in a release that the detention of Saberi, who filed reports from Tehran for National Public Radio, the BBC and Fox News, "is a violation of both Iranian law and international legal standards."
Saberi grew up in Fargo, N.D., and holds dual Iran-U.S. citizenship, the group said, reporting that Iranian authorities have confirmed she was being held in Tehran's Evin prison. But officials did not say what Saberi was charged with.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told the group Saberi had been working "illegally" in Iran.
"Her lawyers must be told the reasons for her detention and must be allowed to visit her," Reporters Without Borders said. "We urge the Iranian authorities to say what charges have been brought against her and to release her pending an investigation, as laid down in the law."
Judicial authority spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told reporters Tuesday that Saberi had been arrested on the order of the Tehran revolutionary court.
