IRAN - ROXANA SABERI: LONDON FRIENDS SAY LAWYER

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 000668

SENSITIVE
NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2019
TAGS: CASC IR JA PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PROP PTER UK
SUBJECT: IRAN - ROXANA SABERI: LONDON FRIENDS SAY LAWYER
VISITED CLIENT IN EVIN MARCH 9; IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO TOKYO
OFFERS ENCOURAGEMENT

REF: A. 3/11 E-MAIL EMB LONDON XXXXXXXXXXXX- NEA/IR

B. 08 TOKYO 2984 AND 08 LONDON 02789

C. 3/16 E-MAILS EMB LONDON XXXXXXXXXXXX) TO NEA/IR
(THIBAULT/TAYLOR/FOLEY)

Classified By: Political Counselor Rick Mills for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (S/NF) Summary. A lawyer's visit to Roxana Saberi on
March 9 indicated Ms. Saberi was encouraged by news of
efforts being made on her behalf, but is generally distraught
at her situation. According to UK Embassy
Tehran, the charges against Ms Saberi were brought in by a
court which tries national security matters; she is alleged
to have filed news stories after her Iran press accreditation
was pulled in 2006. Friends of Ms. Saberi's have expressed
their personal concern to Embassy London and have passed to
Poloff supportive e-mails about Ms Saberi said to be from
Iranian Ambassador to Japan Araghchi and from a former USG
official, and well known author, not personally known to
Poloff. End summary

FCO Not Optimistic
--------------


2. (S/NF) FCO contacts on March 12 and 13 told Poloff UK
Embassy Tehran expects, based on feedback from Saberi's
lawyer, that her release is "not imminent." FCO contacts
told Poloff that both MFA and the judiciary have said
Saberi's arrest stemmed from a writ issued by the
Revolutionary Court, which tries national security offenses.
FCO contacts said the UK Embassy is expecting to have contact
with Ms. Saberi's lawyer in the coming days.

Ms. Saberi's UK-Based Friends Reach Out
--------------


3. (S/NF) The lawyer for detained American citizen Roxana
Saberi visited her in Evin Prison on March 9, according to
a telephone call London Iran Watcher (Poloff) received March
11 (ref a) from a dual American-Iranian citizen working
for BBC-Persian. The U.S. citizen BBC caller, previously
known to Poloff, passed on that, according to Saberi's
lawyer, Ms. Saberi is emotionally distraught, but also
somewhat encouraged by efforts being made on her behalf by
USG and (unspecified) others.


4. (SBU) Poloff's BBC contact said she was calling as a
private citizen and expressed concern for the welfare of
Ms. Saberi, whom she described as a close friend. Poloff
reiterated the concerns for Ms. Saberi's safety publicly
expressed by the Secretary, that protection of American
citizens abroad is the USG's highest priority, and that Ms.
Saberi, her dual nationality notwithstanding, is entitled to
the full range of USG protection and advocacy enjoyed by all
U.S. citizens.


5. (S/NF) The BBC contact said her information on Saberi's
arrest status came via a UK citizen, a London-based fund
manager, who is also a friend of Saberi, who has been in
direct touch with Saberi's lawyer. Poloff asked that any and
all information on Saberi's situation and welfare be shared.


6. (S/NF) The BBC contact on March 13 told Poloff she and
the UK fund manager and other friends of Saberi began
receiving "spam" e-mails from Saberi's e-mail address after
February 1: the contact thought the e-mails might have been
manipulated by regime authorities. The BBC contact noted the
e-mails used poor English, using Iranian-style syntax, and
that the last e-mail the BBC contact had received that she
thought was clearly from Roxana herself had been January 29.

Her Friends Know Araghchi
--------------


7. (S/NF) The BBC contact noted that the fund manager is not
herself Iranian but had, as a private student in 2006,
studied at a Tehran think tank associated with Iran's Foreign
Ministry (she was uncertain of the name or
acronym),and that the fund manager's tutor is now Iran's
Ambassador to Japan, Syed Abbas Araghchi.


8. (S/NF) The fund manager, who called Poloff March 16, also
forwarded to Poloff an e-mail (ref c) she said she had
received March 9 from Ambassador Araghchi. Araghchi's e-mail
says: "I fully understand your sympathy and concerns about
Roxana. Good news are coming And I am confident she will be
freed soon (sic)."

Bob Baer Reportedly Says
IRI Gesture is in the Works
--------------


9. (S/NF) The fund manager also forwarded to Poloff an
e-mail (ref c) she had received March 10, apparently from
former USG official and author Bob Baer; Baer's e-mail states
"Iranians will release her in a gesture to the U.S.,
especially as Afghan talks get under way. Any relevant
updates I will send through (sic). We are very anxious that
Roxana be released as soon as possible and let me know if I
can help in any way."

Comment
--------------


10. (S/NF) UK Embassy's informal focus on the Saberi case
appears to be active and continuing, despite the ending last
week of Ambassador Adam's tour in Iran; FCO contacts March 13
told Poloff that IRI authorities have granted "agrement" for
incoming Ambassador Simon Gass, who is due to arrive in
Tehran in mid-April. Celebrations of the Persian New Year,
which begin this week and traditionally continue in Iran to
the end of March, conceivably may delay the regime's decision
process.


11. (S/NF) Embassy can neither directly assess Baer's
statement nor predict with precision what role if any
Ambassador Araghchi may be playing as the Iranian regime
considers its detention of Ms. Saberi. Araghchi, by
reputation a moderate, able, and respected diplomat, and
described by his former pupil, the London fund manager, as "a
wonderful man," was briefly mentioned (ref b),in connection
with Qalibaf's Japan visit last fall. While Araghchi was
Deputy Foreign Minister (2006-2007) there was speculation in
the press and among some Poloff contacts that policy tensions
between Araghchi and Ahmedinejad contributed to Araghchi's
subsequent posting to Tokyo. Araghchi's relationship to his
former students (the fund manager and the AmCit BBC contact)
appears cordial.

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LEBARON