US journalist leaves Iran jail

TEHERAN: US-born journalist Roxana Saberi walked free yesterday after an Iranian appeals court cut her eight-year jail sentence for spying to a suspended two-year term.

Her release resolved a case that had further strained US-Iranian relations, at a time when US President Barack Obama is seeking to reach out to Teheran after three decades of mutual mistrust.

A judiciary source said Saberi, who was jailed on April 18 on charges of spying for the United States, could leave Iran, and her father suggested it would happen soon.