AN Iranian court sentenced an American journalist to eight years in prison yesterday, accusing her of spying for the US. President Obama was said to be “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, which is seen as a blow to Washington’s efforts to engage Tehran in talks.

Roxana Saberi, 31, who holds joint American-Iranian citizenship, a freelance who has worked for the BBC and National Public Radio, was arrested in January and went on trial behind closed doors last week.

A former beauty queen who has degrees from Cambridge and Northwestern universities, Saberi is the first American journalist to be found guilty of espionage in Iran. Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, said he would “definitely appeal”.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said: “We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government.”

Saberi’s conviction comes as Washington presses ahead with overtures to Iran, which US analysts believe is close to developing nuclear weapons. Clinton is to send Dennis Ross, her special adviser on Iran, to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to discuss holding one-to-one talks with Tehran.

Last week Clinton met European diplomats including Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, to discuss inviting Iran to participate in talks with the United Nations security council. “We’re willing to have a direct dialogue with Iran,” said a state department spokesman.

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he had chatted briefly with Iran’s foreign minister at a conference in Tokyo last week.

Observers at the annual Army Day parade in Tehran yesterday noted that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a relatively low-key speech and there was little sign of the antiwestern banners and slogans usually seen at the event.

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