Iran Frees Reporter Roxana Saberi

Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American reporter who was imprisoned in April by the Iranian government for alleged spying, has been released. From BBC News:

The US-Iranian journalist jailed in Iran, Roxana Saberi, has been freed from prison after having her sentence for spying reduced.

Lawyers for the 31 year old, whose imprisoning sparked a global outcry, said she left Tehran's Evin jail hours after her eight-year term was cut.

She will be able to leave the country but has been banned from working as a journalist in Iran for five years.

The appeal hearing lasted 5 hours, as opposed to the 1 hour duration of the closed court proceeding that convicted her. This is a great victory for freedom, and perhaps a sign that diplomacy with Iran is having a positive effect.

I learned several surprising things from this story. Ms. Saberi, for one thing, is a former Miss North Dakota, who hails from Fargo. Didn't see that coming, although if the pageant circuit can produce a governor/would-be VP, why not a globetrotting journalist?

She was initially arrested for buying alcohol, then upgraded to practicing journalism without a license, before they settled on the spying charge. Try connecting those dots.

Americans should take heart, not only at the release of a wrongfully imprisoned American, but also because, if viewed as a game of diplomatic chicken, it appears Iran blinked like a hummingbird in a dust storm.

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