Saberi spy verdict expected within weeks

TEHRAN, April 14 (UPI) -- Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi will receive a verdict in her Tehran spying trial within weeks, Iranian officials said Tuesday.

A spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Alireza Jamshidi Saberi, told the semiofficial Mehr News Agency that Saberi, who freelanced for National Public Radio and the BBC, had completed her defense against spying charges at a trial Monday, CNN reported.

"Jamshidi emphasized that since Roxana Saberi's last defense statement has been completed, therefore the verdict should be forthcoming within the next couple of weeks," Mehr reported.

Officials say Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, N.D., and held dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, has confessed to espionage charges, allegedly admitting her work for the media organizations was a cover.

Her father, Reza Saberi, told CNN his daughter initially thought she had been detained for buying wine. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said last month that Saberi had been working in Iran with a revoked press permit.