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Families visit detained German journalists in Iran

Iran Materials 28 December 2010 05:00 (UTC +04:00)

Two German journalists detained in Iran for 11 weeks were allowed to receive a visit from family members, the German Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The meeting took place in Tabriz, a spokeswoman for the ministry told the German Press Agency dpa in Berlin.

Earlier Monday, the foreign ministry said no meeting had taken place despite reports that it had.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle thanked his "Iranian counterpart for his support. The German government continued to push for a speedy return of our countrymen to Germany," the spokesman quoted him as saying.

The journalists - a reporter and a photographer - entered Iran on tourist visas and were arrested October 10 when they sought to interview the son and lawyer of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a woman jailed for adultery and allegedly helping to murder her husband. They allegedly violated visa regulations.

   Bild am Sonntag, the duo's employer, reported that the family members who travelled to Iran in the hopes of a visit were the photographer's mother and reporter's sister.

The meeting took place after Westerwelle held multiple meetings with the Iranian ambassador to Germany expressing outrage that the men could not meet with their families during the Christmas holidays, said a ministry spokesman.

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