Beauty queen-turned-scribe arrested in Iran for buying wine

London, Mar. 2 (ANI): A former beauty queen, who was working as a journalist in Iran, was jailed for buying a bottle of wine, her father has claimed.

Roxana Saberi, 31, a US citizen, moved to Iran six years ago to work as a freelance journalist and to complete her master's degree. She grew up in North Dakota and. In 1997, earned the title of Miss North Dakota and competed in the Miss America pageant.

Saberi called her father in Fargo, ND, from an Iranian jail on February 10 to inform him that she'd been detained on January 31. Almost three weeks after, her father has no clue what happened to Saberi, the Daily News reports.

"We haven't heard anything. She said that she had bought a bottle of wine and the person that sold it had reported it and then they came and arrested her," said Reza Saberi, who is desperate to bring back his missing daughter.

Buying and selling alcohol is illegal in Iran. fficials in Iran have not confirmed the arrest. A State Department officer said the agency is investigating the case.

"She called from an unknown place and said she's been kept in detention," her father said.

A few minutes after her first call, she phoned again to say that she would be out for two days and asked her father not to do anything.

Iranian officials revoked Roxana Saberi's press credentials more than a year ago, but she kept reporting short news stories from Iran. (ANI)