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LISA MULLINS: I'm Lisa Mullins. This is The World. The Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi walked out of a prison in Tehran today. An Iranian appeals court suspended its conviction of her for espionage. Now, Saberi is said to be free to leave Iran with her parents and return to the United States. It's a far different story for another Iranian-American woman. We're going to be hearing her story in a few minutes. First, The World's Matthew Bell on the release of Roxana Saberi.

MATTHEW BELL: She's been held in prison in Tehran since January, after Saberi was arrested reportedly for buying a bottle of wine. Alcohol is banned in the Islamic Republic. But over time, the charge against Saberi morphed into the far more serious one of spying for the United States. Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison, but she won her appeal today. And soon after that, she left the prison and was reunited with her parents. Reza Saberi stepped out of a car and into a crowd of reporters in Tehran. He said his daughter is still being charged with a crime – obtaining classified information – but she's doing just fine.

REZA SABERI: There's no problem, and we will be getting to leave the country soon.

REPORTER: When is she going back to the United States?

SABERI: We will be going there pretty soon, in a couple of days. As soon as we get ready, we will go there. Yeah, ok? Thank you.

BELL: Both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have spoken publicly about Saberi's arrest and imprisonment. And today, Clinton welcomed the news of her release.
SECRETARY HILLARY CLINTON: Obviously, we continue to take issue with the charges against her and the verdicts rendered, but we are very heartened that she has been released. And wish her and her family all of the very best we can send her way.

BELL: The White House said Barack Obama was relieved to hear that Saberi had been released. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said this is someone who was wrongly accused, and that the administration welcomed Iran's “humanitarian gesture” of letting her go. The BBC's Jon Leyne is following the story from the Iranian capital.

JON LEYNE: The way the Iranians have made it look is not a result in any way of international pressure. And we've certainly heard their word of any kind of back channel negotiations. It often is that in the past, people in – I can't say similar situation, but in such situations have simply been held in prison for 2, 3, or 4 months as has happened to several Iranian-Americans in the past. Who knows what reason for, perhaps as a warning to the rest of us to behave ourselves.

BELL: The group Reporters Without Borders cheered the release of Saberi, but Jean-Francois Julliard said he hopes she's not the last journalist being held in Iran to be let go.

JEAN-FRANCOIS JULLIARD: We are very happy of course because she deserves to be released, and we are very happy for her, very happy for family, very happy for freedom of press in Iran. We hope now that the situation will be the same for other journalists who are still detained in this country.

BELL: According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Iran is still holding five journalists in prison. For The World, I'm Matthew Bell.

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