American ‘spy’ held in Iran

IRANIAN authorities have detained a 55-year-old American woman on spying charges, a state-owned newspaper reported yesterday.

The daily IRAN said the woman had spying equipment hidden on her body when customs authorities detained her in the border town of Nordouz, 595km north west of the capital Tehran.

The report said she arrived in Iran from neighbouring Armenia without a visa. It did not say when she was detained.

The woman is the fourth American Iran has arrested and accused of spying in less than two years.