Source: NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday
Following a one-day trial in Tehran on charges of spying, journalist Roxana Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison by an Iranian court. Karim Sadjadpour discusses with NPR's Scott Simon the larger issues surrounding the Saberi case, and its implications for U.S.-Iranian relations.
He explains that the journalist has unfortunately been "caught up in a broader contentious relationship between the United States and Iran. Whereas the Obama administration has reached a consensus that it is time to engage Iran to try to forge a new relationship with Tehran, I think within Tehran, they are very conflicted. You have hard-liners who do not represent the majority of the population or even the political elite, who stand to lose big time if there is a U.S.-Iran rapprochement. And over the last thirty years, we have seen that whenever there has been hope of confidence building, or talks, or an improvement in the relationship, they do something to try to torpedo or sabotage the dialogue. And I would put Roxana's case unfortunately in that context."