US wants freedom for detained aid worker in Iran

AP: The United States is calling on Iran to release an aid worker for a U.S. organization who has been accused of trying to overthrow the country's government.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is calling on Iran to release an aid worker for a U.S. organization who has been accused of trying to overthrow the country's government.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Monday that charges that Silva Harotonian was trying to promote a so-called "Velvet Revolution" in Iran are "baseless" and that her health is deteriorating in prison. Harotonian is an Armenian citizen of Iranian descent who worked in Iran for the Washington-based International Research & Exchanges Board.

She was arrested in Iran last June and in January was sentenced to three years in prison. Her employer and family say Harotonian is an administrative assistant and not a political activist. They have appealed to Iranian authorities for her release.