An Iranian judiciary spokesman says a judge will soon decide whether to indict or free three detained Iranian-Americans accused of spying.
The spokesman says preliminary investigations should be completed in two or three days.
He added that Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi will be able to defend one of the detainees, scholar Haleh Esfandiari. Ebadi has said authorities have prevented her from seeing her client.
Two other Iranian-Americans are also being held in a Tehran prison, scholar Kian Tajbakhsh and peace activist Ali Shakeri.
A fourth, journalist Parnaz Azima, has been prevented from leaving Tehran.
The United States has denied any of the four are involved in spying and demanded their release. Iran, which does not recognize dual nationalities, has told the U.S. the cases of the four are none of its concern.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.