Journalist jailed in Iran spy case

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Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in January and initially accused of working without press credentials.

But an Iranian judge charged her with spying for the United States and she was convicted after a trial held behind closed doors.

The verdict was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of spying and it was unclear how the conviction would affect recent overtures by the Obama administration for better relations with Washington's long-standing adversary.

Saberi, from Fargo, North Dakota, appeared before an Iranian court behind closed doors on Monday in an unusually swift one-day trial.

She been living in Iran for six years and had worked as a freelance reporter for several news organisations including the BBC.

Her lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said: "She has been sentenced to eight years in jail. I'll definitely appeal against the verdict."

The United States has called the charges against Ms Saberi baseless and has demanded her release.

President Barack Obama has said he wants to engage Iran in talks on its nuclear programme and other issues - a departure from the tough talk of the Bush administration.

Iran's hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said this week the country was preparing new proposals aimed at breaking an impasse with the West over its nuclear programme. However, it was uncertain how Washington would react to Ms Saberi's conviction.