US woman posed as asylum-seeker

The Iranian Intelligence Minister says an American woman, who was reportedly arrested by Iran, posed as an asylum-seeker but was denied entry into the country.

Last week, reports circulated the media about the arrest of an American woman, Hall Talayan, by Iran’s security forces on charges of espionage.

“This person sought asylum from Iran and claimed she was being threatened by the Americans,” Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said on Wednesday.

Moslehi added that after conducting investigations, however, authorities realized her claims were baseless and prevented her from entering the country.

Commenting on reports about the death of Iranian national Ali-Reza Asgari in an Israeli prison, Moslehi said, “We are not certain about this report, because we don’t trust the Zionists.”

Asgari, a former deputy defense minister, mysteriously disappeared in Turkey in 2007. He was believed to have been abducted and transferred to Israel.

An earlier report by Israeli website Ynet stated that a prisoner had committed suicide in solitary confinement in Israel’s Ayalon prison.

The Eurasia Review website claimed that a source within the “inner circle” of the Israeli Defense Ministry had identified the prisoner as Asgari and that his death could have been a murder and not suicide.

Following Asgari’s death report, Iranian lawmakers called on the international community to take serious action against the murderers of the Iranian prisoner.