Not entirely unprecedented, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad interfered today with yesterday’s verdict of the Revolutionary Court sending Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi to jail for 8 years for charges of espionage. In his letter to Tehran’s prosecutor he interestingly also mentioned Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan who has been detained since October last year for spying for Israel. Mr. Ahmadinejad called on the prosecutor to precisely handle the case, observe administration of justice and ensure that the accused persons (Ms Saberi and Mr Derakhshan) can freely and legally defend themselves.

“Please, personally observe the process to ensure that the defendants are allowed all legal rights and freedom in defending themselves and that their rights are not violated even by one iota,” reported Iran’s official government news agency IRNA.

This is a quick response to an apparent attempt of torpedoing the just initiated process of rapprochement between Iran and the new U.S. administration after decades of enmity.