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Tehran Frees Iranian-American Student on Bail


The family of an Iranian-American student detained in Iran says the young woman has been freed on bail.

Relatives say Esha Momeni was released from prison Monday, after spending nearly a month in Tehran's Evin Prison on charges of acting against national security.

She is scheduled to appear in court this week.

Relatives say they put up the deed to the family's house to cover Momeni's $200,000 bail.

The 28-year-old was researching a master's thesis on Iran's women's rights movement when she was arrested in mid-October on a traffic violation. Authorities later pressed security charges after seizing her computer.

Momeni has dual citizenship in Iran and the United States, and is a graduate student at California State University Northridge in the U.S.

Iranian authorities arrested four people with dual Iranian and U.S. citizenship last year on security-related charges. All eventually were freed after paying bail.

Iranian women's rights activists say women are systematically discriminated against in areas such as marriage and divorce law, inheritance and legal status. Iranian authorities deny allegations of rights violations and say they are enforcing Islamic law.

Several women's rights activists have been detained in recent months. They had taken part in a campaign to collect one million Iranian signatures demanding an end to legalized discrimination against women.

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

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