Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik, who has been detained in Iran, will be released soon, the RIA news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying on Friday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested the Russian journalist in Tehran on Thursday on charges of cooperating with Israeli intelligence, according to media reports.
Yuzik is currently in an IRGC prison, according to her family.
Russia's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador regarding Yuzik's detention, reported the Russian news agency RIA. Russia’s Embassy in Tehran has previously said that it was aware of Yuzik’s arrest and that it is “dealing with the situation,” according to the Moscow Times.
Yuzik’s daughter confirmed her mother’s arrest on Facebook, saying that she has been arrested in “another country,” and added that her trial was scheduled for this Saturday.
Yulia worked as a reporter in Tehran a few years ago and had returned to Tehran on invitation, journalist and ex-husband of Yuzik Boris Voytsekhovskiy wrote on Facebook.
As soon as she arrived, the Iranian authorities confiscated her passport and told her that she can have it back when leaving, he added.
Later that same day, a number of IRGC agents broke into her hotel room and arrested her, wrote Voytsekhovskiy, adding that she is facing up to 10 years on charges of cooperating with Israeli intelligence.
Iran and Russia have had close relations since the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011, as they both heavily support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Several foreign nationals are currently under arrest in Iran.
Earlier today, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi rejected French demands for the release of French-Iranian scholar Fariba Adelkhah.
British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, British Council staffer Aras Amiri, Australian-British Travel blogger Jolie King and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin, and British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert are some of the other foreign nationals currently detained in Iran.
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