IRANIAN SOURCE CLAIMS SABERI'S SENTENCE WILL BE COMMUTED

S E C R E T RPO DUBAI 000180

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/23/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV PINR CASC IR
SUBJECT: IRANIAN SOURCE CLAIMS SABERI'S SENTENCE WILL BE COMMUTED

REF: RPO 162

CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy Richardson, Acting Director, Iran
Regional Presence Office, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (S/NF) An IRPO contact on April 22 recounted to us his
conversation with an Iranian source who claimed Roxanna Saberi's
sentence will be commuted to six months. Our contact said the
Iranian source, who has access to Iranian officials, asserted
vigorously that Tehran had already decided to commute the
sentence and added that it would be a sign of "good faith."
The Iranian hinted that hard-line elements in the IRIG had
opposed Saberi's immediate release; therefore the reduced
sentence was a compromise, according to our contact (reftel).
At the same time, the IRPO contact said, the Iranian source
insinuated that the US could reciprocate by taking steps to
resolve the situation of the Iranians arrested by the US
military in Iraq.




2. (S/NF) The Iranian source also claimed that he had read
Saberi's file and that there was a basis for the espionage
allegation, but he did not disclose any additional information
related to the charge. The Iranian, repeating the IRIG's current
line, spent several minutes during the conversation with our
contact complaining that the US had thus far only changed its
tone and not its actions toward Iran.




3. (S/NF) Comment: Our contact said his Iranian interlocutor,
who is known to IRPO, often speaks in ambiguities on US-Iran
relations and Iranian policymaking. On Saberi, however, he spoke
unequivocally in declaring that her sentence will be reduced as
a step toward resolving this issue. Whether it is an accurate
statement, however, is not yet certain, given what seems to be a
continuing tug-of-way over Saberi going on in Tehran.

RICHARDSON