- An American-born Iranian television anchor has been arrested as a material witness in an undisclosed U.S. federal investigation, according to a federal court order granted on Friday.
At the request of the Justice Department, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued the order, the first official U.S. confirmation of reports of the arrest of Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor for Iran's English-language Press TV news channel.
The order, which approved the partial unsealing of information in the case, said Hashemi was arrested on a material witness warrant issued by a federal judge and that she was assigned an attorney but "has not been accused of any crime."
Hashemi has made two court appearances, and the U.S. government expects her immediate release after she finishes testifying before a federal grand jury investigating violations of U.S. criminal law, the order continued.
It did not disclose further details of the case, which has added to tensions between the Iranian and U.S. governments over the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the reimposition of harsh U.S. sanctions, and the detention of Iranian-American dual nationals by Iran.
Iran has called for the immediate release of Hashemi, who state-run Press TV said was arrested on Sunday by the FBI at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
The FBI and the Justice Department declined to confirm her arrest or comment on the case.
A U.S. government source told Reuters it appeared that the grand jury was examining whether Press TV is a propaganda outlet that failed to register with the Justice Department as an agent of a foreign government.
Press TV said on Wednesday that Hashemi was born Melanie Franklin in the United States and changed her name after converting to Islam.
Remember the Alamo
“Remember the Alamo!” is a famous battle cry from the old West. Who wanted to remember the Alamo and why? The Alamo is an old mission (church compound) in San Antonio, Texas. Spanish priests built it from sun-dried bricks, called adobe, in the early 1700s. High walls defended the mission. It later became a fortress. In 1836, a bloody battle was fought at the Alamo. Texan forces fought bravely against the Mexican army, but many Texans died. At that time, Texas was part of Mexico. Many Texans wanted to make Texas an independent country. “Remember the Alamo!” became a battle cry for Texas in its war of independence from Mexico. TEXAS REVOLTS! In the fall of 1835, the people of Texas decided they no longer wanted to be a part of Mexico. Texans were unhappy with the Mexican government. The Texans rebelled and gathered an army. Mexican president and general Antonio López de Santa Anna wanted to stop the revolt. In February 1836, he took more than 2,000 of his soldiers to San Antonio. A...
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