The lawyer of an Iranian-American journalist jailed in Iran for espionage said on Monday he would appeal the eight-year sentence next week and the judiciary chief ordered a "quick and fair" handling of the case. US-born freelance reporter Roxana Saberi was sentenced on Saturday on charges of spying for the United States in a verdict that could complicate Washington's efforts for reconciliation with the Islamic Republic after three decades of mutual mistrust.
But in an intervention welcomed by her defence lawyer, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Tehran's general prosecutor on Sunday to ensure that the 31-year-old enjoys full legal rights to defend herself. Analysts cautioned against seeing Saberi's conviction as a sign of Tehran rebuffing overtures by the new US administration of President Barack Obama, who has offered a new beginning of engagement if Iran "unclenches its fist."
Iran, which marked its annual armed forces day on Saturday with a relatively low-key parade and little sign of the usual anti-Western slogans, says it would welcome constructive talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear work and other issues. Saberi, who is a citizen of both the United States and Iran, was arrested in January for working in the country after her press credentials had expired.
"I don't think it has got anything to do with the Obama opening," said Ali Ansari of the University of St Andrews in Scotland. "It may affect it but I don't think it was driven or determined by it." Ansari said he would not be surprised if her sentence was reduced on appeal.
Obama said on Sunday he was "deeply concerned" for the safety of Saberi and urged Tehran to free her, saying he was confident she was not involved in spying. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi, said the United States should respect rulings issued by the Islamic state's courts, but that Saberi had the right to appeal.
Referring to the statement by Obama, who has worked as a civil rights lawyer, Qashqavi said one should not express views on a case without studying its contents: "I'm sure some American officials have also studied law," Qashqavi said.
The ISNA news agency quoted defence lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi as saying he will next week lodge an appeal against the verdict on Saberi, who has worked for the BBC and US National Public Radio (NPR). In a decree to Tehran's top court official, judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi said the "different dimensions of this case ... must be considered at the appeals stage in a careful, quick and fair way". US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said releasing Saberi, 31, would serve as a goodwill gesture.
Her father, Reza Saberi, told NPR on Saturday she had been coerced into statements that she later retracted. Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media rights group, has called Saberi's conviction "unjust under the Iranian criminal code" and said her lawyer was not with her when she appeared before the judges for the single hearing on April 13. Washington cut ties with Iran shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979, but Obama is seeking to engage it on a range of issues, including the nuclear dispute.
Iran says it wants to see a real switch in Washington's policies away from those of former President George W. Bush, who led a drive to isolate the country because of nuclear work the West suspects has military aims, a charge Tehran denies.