News

Two German journalists have been arrested in Iran after conducting an interview with the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Mohammadi Ashtiani's son, Sajad, and her lawyer, Houtan Kian, are also believed to have been detained.
The journalists, a reporter and a photographer said to be from Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper, were interviewing Sajad Ghaderzadeh in the north-west city of Tabriz in East Azerbaijan province when officials raided the office of the lawyer. Their names have not been released and it is not clear where they are being kept at the moment.
"I was on the phone with one of the journalists in the middle of their interview when apparently a group of officials raided the office and our communication was instantly interrupted," said Mina Ahadi of Iran's Committee Against Stoning (Icas).
Iran's prosecutor general confirmed the arrests, the students' news agency ISNA reported. "Two foreigners posing as journalists have been arrested in Iran," said Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei. A spokesman for Bild am Sonntag refused today to confirm that its staff had been involved.