U.S.-born journalist Roxana Saberi arrived in Austria Friday from Iran days after being released from a Tehran jail after being acquitted of charges of spying for the United States, a U.S. official said.
“We can confirm that she has arrived in Vienna,” said a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Austria”s capital. The spokeswoman declined further comment.
Earlier, her Iranian lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, told Reuters the 32-year-old freelance reporter had left Tehran on an overnight flight for Europe and would continue to the United States.
U.S.-based National Public Radio said Saberi was traveling with her parents. She has both U.S. and Iranian citizenship and has worked for NPR and the BBC.
She was arrested in January for working in Iran after her press credentials had expired. She was later accused of spying, found guilty and jailed for eight years but had her sentence cut to two years, suspended, on appeal, and released from prison.
“She was well but upset that she could not return to Iran soon to do reporting,” Khorramshahi added.
Saberi”s other defense lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, said on Tuesday the change in the verdict was due to a different interpretation of the relevant law, not because of political considerations.
