Iran denies arrest of American woman
By IANSFriday, January 7, 2011
TEHRAN - Iran has denied reports that it arrested an American woman on espionage charges, a media report said.
An American woman who wanted to enter the country through the Armenia border was barred as she did not have a visa, the Arabic language Al-Alam TV was quoted as saying Friday by Xinhua.
On Thursday, the Farsi-language IRAN newspaper had reported that 55-year-old Hall Talayan was arrested in the northwestern Nordouz town by the customs guards on espionage charges. It also claimed that she had hidden “spying equipment” in her teeth.
Iran had earlier detained American hikers Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer for illegally entering the country. They were also charged with espionage. Sarah Shourd was released in September on a $500,000-bail.
