Iran newspapers, minister criticize US arrest of newscaster

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran kept up its criticism Thursday of the FBI’s apparent arrest of an American anchorwoman from Iran’s state-run English-language TV channel, with its foreign minister saying “she’s done nothing but journalism.”

The hard-line Vatan-e Emrooz paper criticised the detention of Press TV’s Marzieh Hashemi as “Saudi-style behaviour with a critical journalist.”

That’s a reference to the October 2 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Press TV that “we have a right to continue to look after her interests” as Hashemi, born Melanie Franklin in New Orleans, also holds Iranian citizenship.

Iranian law, however, does not recognise dual nationalities, an issue that comes up in its arrest of those with Western ties.

“She is a famous journalist, she’s done nothing but journalism,” Zarif told the broadcaster from a visit to Iraq.

“The arrest of Ms Hashemi is a very clear affront to freedom of expression, a political abuse of an innocent individual and I believe the United States should release her immediately without further delay.”

Hashemi was detained Sunday in St. Louis, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area.

She was then taken to Washington by the FBI on a material witness warrant, according to her elder son, Hossein Hashemi.

The FBI said in an email that it had no comment.

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