TEHRAN – US-born journalist Roxana Saberi walked free on Monday after an Iranian appeal court cut her eight-year jail sentence for spying to a suspended two-year term.
US president Barack Obama welcomed as a “humanitarian gesture” Iran’s release of Ms Saberi.
“He was relieved to see that Roxana Saberi has been released,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at a news conference.
“We know this has been a trying time for her family and friends and he looks forward to welcoming her home to the United States . . . we welcome this humanitarian gesture.”
Her release resolved a case that had further strained US-Iranian relations, at a time when Mr Obama is seeking to reach out to Tehran after three decades.
Ms Saberi, who holds dual US and Iranian citizenship and who moved to Iran six years ago, was arrested in January for working in the Islamic Republic after her press credentials had expired. She was later accused of espionage and convicted on April 18th.
The United States had said the spying charges were baseless and demanded her immediate release. Tehran does not recognise dual nationality and told Washington not to interfere.
The two countries were already locked in an acrimonious dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Mr Obama has offered Iran a fresh start in relations, though Iran says Washington must first demonstrate real policy change.
Analysts and diplomats have cautioned against seeing Ms Saberi’s arrest as a sign of Iran rejecting Mr Obama’s overture, but say her case may have been influenced by it.
The 32-year-old freelance journalist was released from Tehran’s Evin jail, where rights groups say political prisoners are usually held, one day after a closed appeal court hearing.
Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki had said her sentence would be reviewed on the basis of “human and Islamic kindness”.
“I’m very satisfied and happy about the ruling. We expected her to be freed but not this soon,” said her father Reza (68) who moved to the United States in the early 1970s.
“Roxana is well and is staying at a relative’s home tonight . . . The exact date of our departure is not clear but we should get ready for our trip to America,” he said.
One of Ms Saberi’s defence lawyers, Saleh Nikbakht, told the Iranian Students’ News Agency the court had acquitted her of spying but convicted her under a law covering offences including taking pictures or videos in areas where photography is banned.
She will be banned from doing any reporting work in Iran for five years, said her main lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi.
Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told state television that Ms Saberi, who has worked for the BBC and US National Public Radio, had confessed and apologised. “So the court reduced the sentence . . . since it was her first offence.”
Reporters Without Borders, which last month said Ms Saberi’s conviction was a warning to foreign journalists in Iran ahead of its presidential election in June, welcomed her release. The appeal court’s decision can be used as a precedent for other journalists detained in Iran, the Paris-based media watchdog said. It said 14 journalists and bloggers were in detention. – (Reuters)