- Iranians holding Ashura mourning for Imam Hussein
- Third step: Iran officially informs EU of plan to expand nuclear R&D
- Iran expands nuclear R&D program: Rouhani
- Iran goes ahead in space tech, despite US sanctions: ISA
- Resistance Front undermining Israeli regime power: Top commander
- Iran: 7 crew members of detained UK ship freed
- US addiction to sanction threaten its power: Iran’s Zarif
- Dutch role in 2007 Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear site under scrutiny: Iraian FM Spox.
- Iran: ‘Sustainable Security 2019’ kicks off in Caspian Sea
- Iran’s Zarif leaves Tehran for Moscow
- Shiraz University ranked 1st in liver transplantation: Iranian health official
- Japan’s Abe to meet Iran’s president to discuss easing tension in region
- Downing of US spy drone shattered war threats against Iran: Top IRGC commander
- IAEO head reports development of first ion-therapy hospital in west of Asia
- Iranian Taekwondo team wins 2019 World Cup championship
- US sanctions failed to force Iran to buckle: Report
- Crew fixing Iran oil tanker broken down in Red Sea
- As Iranians hold nerves, US seeks to scare off trade
- Leader expresses concern about Kashmir, urges India to follow fair policy toward Muslim-majority region
- Iran saffron exports down due to smuggling, government restrictions: Exporter
- Iran FM warns US against ‘serious miscalculation’ in Persian Gulf
- Iran’s resistance policy led to release of oil tanker: MP
- Iran in reverse brain drain as top students come home in rising numbers
- Iran official calls for compensation for tanker seizure
- Iran hails N Korea for standing against ‘unilateral’ US demands
- Shia Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Ghadir
- North Korea praises Iran’s anti-US struggle
- Zarif says to meet French president Friday
- Iranian court hearing case of UK oil tanker
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- US anti-Iran policy in high seas harms Europeans: LA Times
- Iran, China confer on Syria
- Iran, Finland share views on Persian Gulf dialogue forum: Zarif
- Iran warns US against seizure of oil tanker
- Iraq eager to benefit from Iranian Police’s experience
- Iran planning 3rd step to reduce nuclear commitments: Spokesman
- Leader grants clemency to over 1,000 Iranian inmates
- Registration for Arbaeen Pilgrimage to begin in Iran on Friday
- Iran, Iraq agree to reopen Khosravi border crossing
- Iran deplores suicide attack at Kabul wedding hall
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- Zarif meets with Iran-Kuwait Friendship Group members
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- ‘Iran to stay in nuclear deal as long as its interests are met’
- India envoy happy with positive trend of trade with Iran
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- ‘Iran to become self-sufficient in producing aircraft engines'
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- Spokesman rejects claim on Iran’s commitment in exchange for tanker release
- Zarif reacts to release of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar
- Israel, UAE engaged in secret talks on Iran arranged by US: Report
- US threatens visa ban as Iranian-operated tanker sets to sail from Gibraltar
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- Trump’s administration conflicting messages to Iran baffle go-betweens: Report
- Gibraltar releases Iran-operated tanker despite US pressure
Tehran 22 January_Press TV journalist Marzieh Hashemi and stem cell scientist Dr. Masoud Soleimani, both Iranian citizens who experienced illegal detention by the US government, have offered their assessments of why they think they were subjected to such unfair treatment by Washington.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)-Hashemi, the American-born Press TV journalist and presenter, views her detention as part of the US government's “intimidation” tactics against individuals who are somehow connected to the Islamic Republic.
Speaking on Press TV's Debate program, which marked one year since her detention in the United States, Hashemi said, “It is this battle by the United States against Iran, and they would make an example out of anyone, who plays whatever role in the Islamic Republic.”
Hashemi, a Muslim convert, was detained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri on January 13th last year while in the US to visit her ill brother and other family members.
She was then transferred to a jail in Washington, DC, where she was initially forced to stop observing her Islamic dress code and only offered non-halal food. The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on her arrest at the time, but the US government confirmed that she had been arrested as a “material witness.”
The US government finally released her 10 days later without charge.
She added that the intimidation campaign is aimed at “those who want to stand up and speak about the Islamic Republic, talk about Iran, whether on social media on other forms.”
“[The US is seeking to] make an example that ‘if you do this, you’re going to pay a price,’” Hashemi observed.
Also in October 2018, the FBI arrested the Iranian stem cell scientist at an airport in Chicago. Soleimani had been invited by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to lead a research program there.
The arrest was made on alleged charges that he had violated the US trade sanctions by trying to have biological material transferred to the Islamic Republic. The charges related to September 2016 when Soleimani had seized on two former students’ plans to travel from the US to Iran to get recombinant proteins, which are found fundamentally in every medical testing and biological research laboratory.
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