Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik arrived in Tehran on 29 September on a private invitation, but her passport was seized at the airport for unknown reasons. She was arrested on 2 October at her hotel. Initial reports claimed that Yuzik was accused of spying for Israeli intelligence, APA reports quoting sputniknews.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei stated Monday that Yuzik was detained for visa irregularities.
The Russian Embassy in Tehran said Thursday that Yuzik was released and is on her way back to Russia. According to the Russian diplomatic mission, the Russian reporter is safe and had departed for Moscow early on 10 October.
"As a result of joint efforts of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian embassy in Tehran, Iran has decided to release Russian citizen Yulia Yuzik. Early on October 10, she departed from Iran to Moscow on an Aeroflot flight", the embassy wrote on Telegram.
In a separate comment, the embassy said that Yuzik felt fine after being released from detention. "[She] feels normal", the embassy spokesman, Andrei Ganenko, said.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow had officially requested consular access to Yuzik after she was detained in Iran.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow condemned the journalist's detention in Iran and hoped that she would be released soon and explanations provided.
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