Tehran, Iran – Iran confirms Its Holding U.S.-based American Scholar, Accusing Her for Spying For The US.

Tehran, Iran – As we reported last week.

Iran confirmed Sunday that it has detained a prominent Iranian-American academic, and a hardline newspaper accused her of spying for the United States and Israel and trying to start a revolution inside Iran.

Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, went to Iran on a personal visit to see her ailing mother last year. She had been prohibited from leaving for four months, then was sent Tuesday to Iran‘s notorious Evin prison after arriving at the Intelligence Ministry for questioning, the institute said. [ap]