Iran frees detained US woman on $500,000 bail

TEHRAN, Iran –
Iran released an American woman on a bail of $500,000 Tuesday more than a year after she was detained, but authorities said they were not considering the immediate release of two companions arrested with her.

The announcement came days after conflicting statements by Iranian authorities on whether Sarah Shourd would be freed as the process was complicated by political feuds among the leadership and questions over how a payment could be made for her freedom without violating international sanctions.

The English-language Press TV reported that Shourd, 32, had been released "on a bail of $500,000" but did not give more details. Iran's judiciary, meanwhile, issued a statement saying the "pretrial detention" of the two American men — Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal — has been extended for two more months.

Her family had said it was having difficulty raising the money. However, Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said later that the bail had been paid to an Iranian bank in Muscat, Oman.

"The judge issued the release order and Ms. Shourd was simply set free and she can leave Iran if she wants to," he told Press TV. He said the cases of the two American men, both 28, will be sent to the revolutionary court and "there is no talk of releasing those two right now."

Shourd's lawyer, Masoud Shafiei, said she had been released but was still undergoing formalities inside the Evin Prison, where she has been held in solitary confinement. He said he had no information about her departure route or any details about bail.

He later was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying Shourd planned to travel to Oman where her mother already was waiting for her, but that could not be confirmed and there were conflicting reports that she would go to the Qatari capital of Doha.

A spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Lars Knuchel said the release had not been formally confirmed but "we are very confident that things are moving into the right direction."

The U.S. broke off ties with Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Switzerland handles U.S. interests in Iran.