Iran allows lawyer to see jailed reporter

FARGO, N.D., March 10 (UPI) -- Iranian authorities have allowed a jailed U.S. journalist to meet with her attorney, Roxana Saberi's father says.

Reza Saberi, whose 31-year-old daughter is being held in Tehran's Evin prison, told CNN Monday from his home in Fargo, N.D., the attorney indicated Roxana Saberi's spirits were lifted when she was told of the outpouring of support she was receiving.

"He (the attorney) said initially her spirits were not good and she was not feeling well," Reza Saberi told CNN. "When she started to talk, she cried. But her spirits changed when she heard about the outpouring of support. She had no idea how much attention her arrest is getting."

A petition calling on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to intervene in the situation has been delivered to Iranian diplomats at the United Nations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a released statement.

Reza Saberi told CNN Roxana, who filed stories for National Public Radio and the BBC from Tehran, was arrested for buying a bottle of wine. Alcohol is banned in Iran.