US-born Iranian TV anchor's arrest confirmed by US court

WASHINGTON— An American-born Iranian television anchor has been arrested as a material witness in an undisclosed US federal investigation, according to a federal court order granted on Friday.

At the request of the Justice Department, US District Judge Beryl Howell issued the order, the first official US confirmation of reports of the arrest of Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor for Iran's English-language Press TV news channel.

The order, which approved the partial unsealing of information in the case, said Hashemi was arrested on a material witness warrant issued by a federal judge and that she was assigned an attorney but "has not been accused of any crime."

Hashemi has made two court appearances, and the US government expects her immediate release after she finishes testifying before a federal grand jury investigating violations of US criminal law, the order continued.

It did not disclose further details of the case, which has added to tensions between the Iranian and US governments over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the reimposition of harsh US sanctions, and the detention of Iranian-American dual nationals by Iran.