Roxana Saberi: 'God Save Iran... From These People'

"God save Iran." She etched it into the small heater in her cell with the sharp end of a tube of toothpaste. Roxana Saberi wanted to add, "...from these people." But she was in prison — Iran's notorious Evin prison — in solitary confinement and under suspicion of espionage. The truth, she felt, was too risky.

Saberi had been living and reporting from Iran for five years. One morning, in January 2009, four men knocked on her Tehran apartment door. They were Iranian intelligence agents. Saberi was detained, interrogated and later convicted of spying.

Saberi spent the next 100 days both in solitary confinement and alongside other imprisoned Iranian women. She might have spent eight more years there, but intense international pressure won her an appeal, and in May 2009, Saberi was released.

She chronicles her time, experiences and the stories of other political prisoners in her new book: "Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran."

Saberi comes to Boston this weekend to speak about her ordeal. She spoke with Radio Boston on Friday.

Scheduled speaking events: