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Detained Iranian-Americans Appear on Iranian TV


Iranian state-run television has aired footage of two detained Iranian-Americans as part of a promotion for a show called "In the Name of Democracy."

The short television promotion showed Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh in separate interviews in the first footage shown of the two since they were imprisoned in May. The promotion said a full broadcast would be aired Wednesday evening.

Esfandiari is a Middle East expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Tajbakhsh is a New York-based urban planning consultant at the Open Society Institute of philanthropist George Soros.

The two Iranian-Americans have been charged with spying.

The United States says the charges have no basis in fact and has urged Iranian authorities to release the two.

Another Iranian-American, peace activist Ali Shakeri, also is being held in a Tehran prison. A fourth, journalist Parnaz Azima, has been prevented from leaving Tehran.

The United States has denied any of the four are involved in spying.

Iran, which does not recognize dual nationalities, has told the United States the cases of the four are none of its concern.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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