Iran Frees American Hiker Sarah Shourd

A lawyer for imprisoned American Sarah Shourd said Tuesday she has been released after more than a year in captivity in Iran.

"She is free," Masoud Shafiei said, according to the Washington Post. "She is coming out of prison right now."

The release of Shourd, one of three Americans held for more than 13 months after they strayed into Iran while hiking in neighboring Iraq, was initially announced last week, but was delayed after judicial authorities in Tehran objected and set bail at $500,000. Her family pleaded for her freedom, saying she has serious health issues and has not received proper medical attention.
The famiiy had trouble raising the bail money. But the Associated Press reported that Tehran's chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, said the bail had been paid to an Iranian bank in Muscat, Oman. "The judge issued the release order and Ms. Shourd was simply set free and she can leave Iran if she want to," Dowlatabadi told Press TV. Shourd didn't delay. She left on Tuesday and rejoined her waiting mother in Oman.

Shourd, 32, is a native of Illinois who grew up in Los Angeles. She and Shane Bauer, one of the other detainees who is also her fiance, had been living in Damascus, Syria, where she taught English.

President Obama, in a statement, said he was "very pleased" by Shourd's release. But the president said "Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal (the third detainee) remain prisoners in Iran who have committed no crime. We remain hopeful that Iran will demonstrate renewed compassion by ensuring the return of Shane, Josh and all the other missing or detained Americans in Iran."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thanked the Swiss Embassy in Tehran and the government of Oman for their help in securing Shourd's freedom. "We urge Iranian authorities to extend the same consideration to them (the other two Americans) by resolving their cases without delay and allowing them to immediately return to their families," Clinton said.

Iranian officials indicted the three Americans on charges related to spying after they were detained on July 31, 2009. Iran's judiciary said Bauer and Fattal would remain in "pretrial detention" for another two months, the AP said.