Iranian academic writes of US detention 'hell' over link to 1979 hostage crisis

An Iranian woman detained for months in Texas has accused the US government of "bloodline punishment" after it revoked her family's green cards over her husband's ties to a prominent figure in Iran.

Maryam Tahmasebi, a professor of psychology and statistics in Los Angeles, her husband, Seyed Eissa Hashemi, and their teenage son - all permanent residents of the US - were detained by immigration agents in April.

Her husband's mother was a spokesperson for the group that took dozens of Americans captive during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.

The State department has cited those ties as the reason for revoking the family's status.

Tahmasebi and her son remain at a detention centre in Dilley, Texas, while her husband endures "horrible conditions" at a separate South Texas Detention Facility in Pearsall, she wrote in The Nation magazine , external .

"We have been put through hell for the past four months, and our physical and mental health have deteriorated in ways that might not be reversible for years," Tahmasebi wrote.

Tahmasebi wrote her account from inside her detention facility, where she has limited access to email, according to Jack Mirkinson, a senior editor at The Nation.

Tahmasebi and her lawyer then submitted it to the magazine, he said.