Iran freed Sarah Shourd, 32, after a $500,000 bail was paid to win her freedom. However, the case that has deepened strains between the US and Iran was still far from resolved. Shortly after announcing Shourd’s release, Iranian authorities said they are not considering the immediate release of the two Americans arrested with Shourd — her fiance Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal. Iran has charged all three with spying, though their families say they were innocent hikers arrested in a scenic mountain area along Iran’s border with Iraq.
“I want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people, that have been involved, and especially, particularly want to address President Ahmadinejad and all of the Iranian officials, the religious leaders, and thank them for this humanitarian gesture,” Shourd told Iran’s English-language Press TV at the airport before she flew out. “I’m grateful and I’m very humbled by this moment,” she added.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Shourd was being released on compassionate grounds because of health reasons. Her mother says she has serious medical problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.
Shourd arrived in Oman after a flight of about two hours.
She was greeted with an embrace from her mother and read a short statement. Also on hand were a senior Omani Foreign Ministry official and the US ambassador.
President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both thanked Oman for its assistance and US officials said Omani negotiators had played a critical, behind-the-scenes role in securing Shourd’s release. The Omanis worked with Swiss diplomats and the Iranian judiciary to win her freedom, particularly in resolving the issue of bail, the officials said.
Oman “in recent days and weeks became a key interlocutor to help us work this case with the Iranian government,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. “And we are very grateful to the role that Oman has played.”
Tehran’s chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said a $500,000 bail had been paid to Iran’s Bank Melli in Muscat, Oman but did not say who paid it. A US official said neither the US government nor the families of the hikers had paid the bail, but could not say who else might have paid it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Crowley said he could not say whether any money had changed hands in winning Shourd’s release, but noted that “arrangements were made that satisfied Iranian requirements under their judicial system.” At the same time, he said the US government had no information to suggest that any US or international sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program had been violated in making those arrangements.
“The United States did not pay anything for her release. As you know, the government of Iran, through their judicial process, had specific requirements for her release, and arrangements were made that satisfied those requirements,” Crowley said.
“We applaud the Iranian authorities for showing compassion in Sarah’s case and again call on them to do the only right thing and release Shane and Josh immediately,” the families said. “They deserve to come home too. Iran has no grounds to deprive them of their liberty a moment longer.” Obama said all Americans are celebrating Shourd’s long-awaited return home.
“I am very pleased that Sarah Shourd has been released by the Iranian government, and will soon be united with her family,” Obama said in a statement Shourd’s mother Nora said she has hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days.
