Iranian foreign ministry does not corroborate information on release of Russian national
The Russian embassy in Iran said earlier that Yulia Yuzik was arrested at a hotel in Tehran on October 2
TEHRAN, October 5. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Ministry did not corroborate the information that the Russian national Yulia Yuzik detained in Tehran will be released soon, the Russian diplomatic mission’s press officer Andrei Ganenko told TASS on Saturday.
"The embassy requested access (to Yuzik) and explanations from the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday. We did not receive confirmation that (she will be) released soon," he said. "The embassy is in constant contact with the Iranian side and is doing everything to make sure that Yulia Yuzik will be released as soon as possible," Ganenko added.
On Friday, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Sanai who was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the Russian national Yulia Yuzik detained in Tehran was providing testimony to Iranian law enforcement bodies and would be released soon.
The Russian embassy in Iran said earlier that Yuzik was arrested at a hotel in Tehran on October 2. The embassy said Yuzik had failed to notify it of the problems related with her passport that was taken away from her at Imam Khomeini Airport.
Yuzik worked as a reporter for the Rostov bureau of the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda and Russian Newsweek magazine. Since 2003, she has been engaged in literary activities and investigative journalism. In 2003, she published a book called ‘Brides of Allah’, which has been edited in nine countries since. She is also the author of another book called ‘Beslan Dictionary’.