American Reporter Missing in Iran

Sunday morning. I was up early, puttering around in my office. Drinking coffee. Skimming my haiku web site. The TV was on in the background and suddenly a news story caught my ear.

NPR is reporting, said the anchor, that a journalist has gone missing in Iran ... She attended Concordia College in Moorhead.

What? I attended Concordia College in Moorhead.

I jumped from my computer chair and rushed to the TV. Who was this journalist? What was her name? What year did she graduate? Did I know her?

Of course as soon as I reached the TV, the anchor was on to another story. So I hunted out the story myself on the NPR web site.

The journalist's name is Roxana Saberi. She is 31 years-old, which puts her out of my Concordia range, but just barely. I don't know her.

She is a freelance journalist who has reported for NPR and the BBC. She was able to get into Iran because while she was born in the US, her father is Iranian. This gave her the "status" she needed to get in.

Saberi has been living in Iran for the past six years. She was arrested on January 31 for "buying wine." The last time her family had any contact with her was on February 10.

They are frantically trying to find any information about her.

Here is a link to the information on NPR.

At the top of the page is an audio link to an interview with her father. The interview is longer than the article, more in depth and better. Give it a listen.

Photo:
provided by Saberi's family to NPR. Roxana Saberi with former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.