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| Iran leader urges reporter rights | Iran leader urges reporter rights |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said an Iranian-American journalist jailed for spying must have her legal right to defend herself. | Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said an Iranian-American journalist jailed for spying must have her legal right to defend herself. |
| The request came in a letter from his office to Tehran's prosecutor, state media reported, a day after Roxana Saberi was jailed for eight years. | The request came in a letter from his office to Tehran's prosecutor, state media reported, a day after Roxana Saberi was jailed for eight years. |
| The US has expressed dismay over the 31-year-old's sentencing at a secret one-day trial in Tehran. | The US has expressed dismay over the 31-year-old's sentencing at a secret one-day trial in Tehran. |
| Correspondents say the case will have implications for US-Iranian relations. | Correspondents say the case will have implications for US-Iranian relations. |
| Ms Saberi's lawyer has said he will lodge an appeal. | |
| 'Fairness and justice' | |
| The Iranian president said the rights of Ms Saberi and jailed blogger Hossein Derakhshan must not be violated in any way. | |
| "Please take the necessary measures to ensure that the process of examining the charges against the aforementioned individuals are being carried out carefully and fairness, justice and regulations are observed," Mr Ahmadinejad wrote in the letter to prosecutors. | |
| "Please, personally observe the process to ensure that the defendants are allowed all legal rights and freedom in defending themselves and that their rights are not violated even by one iota," reported Iranian official government news agency Irna. | |
| US President Barack Obama was "deeply disappointed" at the sentencing, his spokesman said on Saturday. | |
| US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington, which has no diplomatic ties with Iran, would vigorously raise its concerns about the case with Tehran. | |
| The verdict came despite calls by the Obama administration for Ms Saberi's release and diplomatic overtures to Iran after three decades of severed ties. | |
| It raises deep suspicions over whether the case has been hijacked by hardliners within the Iranian government, eager to sabotage any reconciliation, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports from Tehran. | |
| Ms Saberi, who was arrested in January and went on trial this week, denies the charge and plans to go on hunger strike, her father said. | |
| Senators from Ms Saberi's home state of North Dakota described the court ruling as a shocking miscarriage of justice that would damage Iran's international credibility. | |
| Ms Saberi has reported for a number of foreign news organisations including the BBC, NPR and Fox News. |