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The U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said Saturday that Iranian authorities have prevented one of its journalists from leaving the country. Parnaz Azima, who is based in Prague where she works for Radio Farda — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Persian service operated jointly with the Voice of America radio broadcaster — arrived in the capital, Tehran, on Jan. 25 to visit a sick relative, the broadcaster said in an e-mailed statement.

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Iran looks into reporter’s case: Iran said Sunday it was investigating claims made by the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that one of its journalists has been prevented by authorities from leaving the country.

Iran said Sunday it is seeking bids for the building of two more nuclear power plants, despite international pressures to curb its controversial program. Ahmad Fayyazbakhsh, the deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization in charge of power plants, said the plants would be light-water reactors, each with the capacity to generate up to 1,600 megawatts of electricity. Each plant would cost up to $1.7 billion and take up to 11 years to construct, he told reporters during a news conference at his office.

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The rights group of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi on Sunday condemned the detention of teachers who have staged public protests over low wages. The Defenders of Human Rights Centre said that more than a dozen teachers had been arrested in recent days, following an earlier spate of arrests in March after public demonstrations. “Although most of the March detainees have been released, confronting teachers’ unions and arresting other teachers in recent days is a clear sign of human rights being violated,” the group said in a statement.

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