The American journalist Roxana Saberi walked free from an Iranian prison yesterday, removing a key impediment to President Obama's efforts to end 30 years of hostility between the United States and Iran.
Ms Saberi, 32, was released after an appeals court slashed the eight-year jail sentence she was given last month on spying charges to a suspended two-year term. She was met by her parents as she left Evin prison in Tehran, where she had been held since January and recently staged a two-week hunger strike. "I don't want to make any comments but I'm OK," she said.
Her father, Reza, said: "We're very happy . . . We had expected her release, but not so soon." Mr Saberi has been in Tehran since March, pressing for his daughter's freedom. The family is expected to fly back to the United States within days.
Ms Saberi's lawyers said that the court had accepted their argument that as Iran was not at war with the US, their client could not be punished for co-operating with a hostile nation. That could indicate a softening of the regime's attitude after Mr Obama's offer of engagement.
Mr Obama welcomed Iran's "humanitarian gesture" while Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said that she was heartened by Ms Saberi's release. The White House continued to emphasise that Ms Saberi had been wrongly accused.
Experts on Iran said that the court's ruling was clearly political and suggested that the regime was reluctant to antagonise the US at a time when it was still considering how to respond to Mr Obama's overtures.
Ms Saberi, the US-born daughter of an Iranian father and Japanese mother, was arrested four months ago for buying a bottle of wine and allegedly working without a journalist's accreditation. She had reported from Tehran for National Public Radio, Fox News, the BBC and other outlets since 2003.
She was later charged with spying and tried behind closed doors. Last month she received the harshest sentence yet given to a dual national convicted on security charges in Iran. There were suspicions that hardliners were using the case to try to scupper the peace initiative Mr Obama had outlined in a speech to the Iranian people in February.
The US State Department called the charges baseless and without foundation and Mr Obama expressed deep disappointment. Several European countries and human rights groups demanded her release. There were even protests in Iran and President Ahmadinejad, who faces re-election next month, and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of Iran's judiciary, signalled their concern by insisting that she got a fair hearing at her appeal. That hearing took place on Sunday and lasted five hours. Ali Reza Jamshidi, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, said that her sentence was cut because of her remorse, regret and co-operation. He denied that the interventions of Mr Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Shahroudi had influenced the court.
Iran watchers had no doubt that the ruling was politically motivated, given the international commotion caused by the original sentence. "I think they realised this was going to be another complication to add to the already complicated stew and it was better to remove it," said Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History at the University of St Andrews.
Sir Richard Dalton, a former Ambassador to Iran and associate fellow at Chatham House, said: "I suspect they have done an internal review of the evidence against her and the public furore and the political cost and decided on a cost-balance calculation they were doing more harm by hanging on to her than letting her go."
Another reporter with dual nationality is still being held in Iran. Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian-Canadian blogger, has been imprisoned since November and sentenced to four years for "publicity against the Government". Esha Momeni, a student and US citizen, has been prevented from leaving Iran despite being released from jail last year.