US-born journalist freed in Iran

Agence France-Presse

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"I'm OK. I don't want to make any comments but I am okay," the U.S.-Iranian national told AFP minutes after leaving the notorious Evin prison in Tehran and then being driven away by her father. Saberi was initially detained in January and sentenced last month to an eight-year jail term on charges of spying for Washington in a case that caused deep concern in the United States and among human rights groups.

"The verdict of the previous court has been quashed," her lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said. "Her punishment has been changed to a suspended two-year sentence." The ruling was greeted with joy and relief by Saberi's father, who has been in the country since March to push for her release and said he will take his daughter back home to the United States "as soon as possible".

Iran's judiciary said the two-year sentence would be suspended for five years, and a judicial source told AFP that the 32-year-old journalist and former beauty queen would be free to leave the country. "She's free to do what she wants as any other citizen who has a passport and can come and go as they want," the source said.