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LISA MULLINS: Iran's Intelligence Chief asserted today that Iranian American Journalist Roxana Saberi was guilty of espionage. That despite the fact that a judge reduced her eight-year sentence and freed her on Monday. Roxana Saberi, who reported for this program and other outlets, was in prison for three months. Shirin Ebadi is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She won a 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work there. Ebadi assisted in Roxana Saberi's legal case. Earlier today, we asked Shirin Ebadi why she believes Iran released Roxana Saberi. She had a no nonsense answer.

SHIRIN EBADI: I think that the reason is very simple and that is that Roxana is innocent and she shouldn't have been arrested from the beginning. Unfortunately, the government of Iran has suspicion of journalists.

MULLINS: But can you explain how the government thinks in cases like this because one day Roxana gets an eight-year sentence in prison then not long after that she is released. Can you tell us what the thinking might have been there?

EBADI: After Roxana received the eight-year sentence, the international world showed a great reaction. As you know, the journalists in our borders went on a hunger strike for three days and also there was other international talk about it. So that's why Roxana was released.

MULLINS: Very often, though, we have the impression that Tehran is impervious to international pressure. How much of a difference do you think pressure by individual groups, journalist groups, even Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, how much of that had a bearing on what Tehran decided in Roxana's case?
EBADI: I can promise you that if not all the international noise were made, that Roxana would still be in prison today.

MULLINS: What is it that Tehran was afraid of then? Is it just developing an increasingly poor reputation internationally, this on top of the controversy about its nuclear program? I mean, what is it that Iran was afraid of in terms of international pressure because it certainly bucks it in other instances?

EBADI: Iran is not an isolated island in the world. Iran pays attention to the public opinions or the international opinion, and therefore when something like this happens, it wants to attract the public opinion to an extent. And let's not forget that in December of this year '09, there will be a report on human rights in Iran, and I think that Iran does not want to be convicted for the fourth time regarding violations of human rights.

MULLINS: Do you think Mrs. Ebadi that this would auger well then for the cases of other people who are being held in prison in Iran? Even an Iranian-American, in fact a couple of Americans, one Iranian-American in particular, Esha Momeni who is not held in prison right now but she is forbidden to leave Iran. Do you think that Roxana's release could bode well for these others who are held?

EBADI: I agree that we do have numerous political prisoners in Iran but we haven't had as much international noise made for them. So it doesn't mean that they will be released as soon as Roxana was released. What I have always believed is that if the world forgets about Iran and does not talk about the political prisoners or the matters of human rights in Iran, the situation will worsen.

MULLINS: Ms. Ebadi, what was your role in Roxana Saberi's case?

EBADI: After Roxana Saberi was sentenced for eight years of imprisonment, her father contacted my office and requested that we represent her. Myself and two other attorneys, we organized a three-attorney team and accepted her representation. Unfortunately, my colleague went to visit Roxana in prison was not let in to visit her. He went there six times but was not able to talk to her. He was not even provided with the file. He could not even read the file, but as a result of our international pressure, Roxana was released from jail. However, what I want to stress here is that unfortunately her attorney who represented her in the first instance did not bring up the issue that this girl should not have been arrested from the beginning because she was innocent.

MULLINS: When you talked, Ms. Ebadi, about the pressure that you think has been responsible for Roxana's release, the international pressure on Tehran, why hasn't that same international pressure made a difference in Iran's nuclear weapons program given that there are many countries who have spoken out against it? Yet the government of Iran does not seem to be yielding right now. Why?

EBADI: I don't think that the two cases can be compared because I think in the interest of the governmental work on the nuclear program where keeping Roxana was a young girl in prison does not really call for the interest of the government.

MULLINS: Shirin Ebadi, thank you very much.

EBADI: Thank you. Goodbye.

MULLINS: Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist and the winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Ebadi was part of the defense team that took up the case of Iranian-American Journalist Roxana Saberi who was released on Monday from an Iranian prison. Shirin Ebadi's interpreter was Shirin Ershadi.

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