Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran to demand the unconditional and immediate release of a state television journalist detained in the United States.
Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said a note of complaint was issued to the ambassador for Switzerland over the "inhuman and discriminatory" detention of Iranian citizen and Press TV reporter Marzieh Hashemi.
The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles US interests in the Islamic republic after the two countries broke off relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"Her immediate and unconditional release was demanded" at the meeting with the ambassador, Ghasemi added.
US-born Hashemi, who works for Iran's English-language Press TV, was arrested on arrival at St Louis Lambert International Airport on January 13th, according to family and friends cited by Press TV.
A US court on Friday confirmed the arrest, saying her testimony was required over an unspecified case but that she was not accused of a crime.
The court said Hashemi was arrested on "a material arrest warrant" and would be let go after she gave testimony to a grand jury investigating unspecified "violations of US criminal law".
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Thursday described the detention as a "political action" by the United States that "tramples on freedom of speech" and demanded she be set free.