No Word Received on Newsmen Held by Tehran Regime

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Relatives and colleagues of American journalist Gerald F. Seib awaited his departure from Iran on Thursday, a day after he was ordered expelled by the Tehran government.

Seib, who was arrested during a government-sponsored press tour and accused of spying, was believed to be safe with Swiss diplomats in Tehran, but there was no firm word on his whereabouts or departure plans.

Seib, a 30-year-old Cairo-based reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was in a group of 57 foreign journalists invited to visit the southern front in the 6 1/2-year-old war with Iraq.

The reporter was not aboard any of the three international flights that left the Iranian capital Thursday.

The next possible flight out is a Lufthansa plane scheduled to leave Tehran at 12:30 a.m. today Tehran time for Istanbul, Turkey, and Frankfurt, West Germany.

An official of Iran’s Information Ministry, reached by telephone in Tehran on Thursday, said of Seib: “He has still not left but will leave within the next 24 hours.”

An announcement Wednesday by the Iranian Information Ministry said authorities had decided to release Seib on Thursday after “a judicial probe into his case ended.”