Sarah Shourd thanks Ahmadinejad

Released US national Sarah Shourd has expressed her gratitude to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shortly before she boarded a flight to the Omani capital of Muscat.

Shourd told Press TV at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, “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 arrived in Muscat late Tuesday night and was greeted with an embrace from her mother. Her uncle and the US ambassador to Oman, Richard Schmierer, were also present at the airport.

Praising Shourd’s release, the families of the three Americans said in a statement, “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,” AP reported.

US President Barack Obama also welcomed the release, saying that 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.

President 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.

In Addition, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi also said earlier that Shourd was freed based on humanitarian grounds over her health condition on a bail of $500,000, which was paid in Oman at Iran’s Bank Melli.

Dolatabadi said that Shourd was handed over to officials at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran which represents US interests.

The Swiss ambassador to Iran, Livia Leu Agosti, confirmed earlier
Tuesday that Shourd had been released.

Before leaving Tehran, Shourd had a brief meeting with Maryam Mojtahedzadeh, advisor to the Iranian president.

Mojtahedzadeh told her, “We let your mother have a meeting with you here in Tehran, while we have no relationship with your country. It is a good example of compassion we have learnt from the holy Quran.”

Shourd said in response that she knows about Islamic teachings. She said she will remain committed to the truth in her future interviews with media.

She told Press TV, “I’m grateful and I’m very humbled by this moment,” adding, “I’ve learned a lot from women in the Middle East in this part of the world and I have a lot of respect for women and the tradition that surrounds them. I just want to assure you that my commitment to truth will not change. You know, when I go back to my country and I will never say anything but the truth to media and I will not succumb to any pressure.”

Shourd, 32, Shane Michael Bauer and Joshua Felix Fattal, both 27, were arrested in July 2009 after illegally crossing the border from the mountains of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

The three Americans were charged with espionage after the Tehran prosecutor found “compelling evidence” that the trio had been cooperating with US intelligence agencies.

The decision comes after the Islamic Republic earlier called off the release of Shourd over unresolved legal issues.

Bauer and Fattal will remain in jail and the trio will have to stand trial for espionage.