Tehran - A court has agreed to hear the appeal of an Iranian-American journalist's spying conviction next week, the country's judiciary spokesman Ali-Reza Jamshidi said Tuesday.

According to ISNA news agency, Jamshidi said the hearing would not be public and attended only by representatives of the secret service, prosecutors office and the bar association.

The 32-year-old Roxana Saberi, who worked for US National Public Radio, was sentenced to eight years in prison last month on charges of spying for the US government.

Her father Reza told Western media that Saberi was on a hunger strike and had to be hospitalized due to her weakness.

The judiciary spokesman denied those reports and insisted that she had no health problems.

Tehran has rejected any foreign interference in the Saberi case, and said the journalist is Iranian and would be treated like any other citizen.

In Iran, dual nationality is not acknowledged but tolerated. In official cases, however, only the nationality of the subject's father is taken into account.

Saberi is a US citizen, her mother Japanese but her father is Iranian. (dpa)