American Hall Talayan not arrested, says Iran

Iran denied the arrest of American Hall Talayan for entering the country illegally as a spy, according to Bloomberg News. State-run Al-Alam television reported Friday that the 55-year-old American did not enter Iran from Armenia or have a microphone implanted in her teeth.

The denial comes after two state-run news agencies reported Thursday that Iranian authorities detained Talayan in the border town of Nordouz after she was found with "spying devices" in her mouth. She was reportedly arrested a week ago.

“The detained American spy told Iranian security officials that she would be killed if Iran extradites her to America,” the Fars report said as reported in The New York Times.

If true, the arrest would be the fourth of an American on espionage charges in Iran in the past two years. Authorities arrested three Americans who claimed they were hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan, near the Iranian border, in July 2009. Iran freed Sarah Shourd, 32, on bail in September, but Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, both 28, remain in detention.

“We’ve been through a big roller coaster ride,” Fattal told GlobalPost in a July interview. “There have been a lot of great highs and a lot of deep lows.”

Some analysts say Iran arrests foreigners, particularly Americans, as a chance to use them as a distraction from domestic dissatisfaction and as bargaining chips as it faces international pressure over its nuclear program.

“For Americans to go to Iran for whatever reason is a very risky endeavor,” Ali Safavi, president of Near East Policy Research, told the Christian Science Monitor. “As the regime has weakened and faced mounting problems in recent years, it has liked nothing better than to seize foreigners and make them pawns in an effort to divert attention from its ebbing standing in the country.”

The United States has no diplomatic ties with Iran and has asked Switzerland to look into the situation, CNN reports.