Free Republic

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's release this week of American hiker Sarah Shourd was a unilateral gesture made without any promise of a quid pro quo, but that doesn't mean Iranian officials wouldn't appreciate a similar act from the United States, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state-run television Friday. "We have no expectations," he told IRINN TV. "But naturally, morally, the expectation would be that the U.S. government would take a step to release a number of Iranians that they took from other countries." Ahmadinejad said the United States is holding a number of Iranians. "The expectation is that you...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's state news agency has confirmed that Tehran has postponed the planned release of an American woman who has been jailed for more than a year. IRNA on Friday quoted the deputy chief of communication for the Iranian president's office, Mohammed Hassan Salilhimaram, as saying Sarah Shourd's release scheduled for Saturday had been delayed. He gave no further details.

The United States remains deeply concerned by the case of three American hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd, who have been detained in Iran without charge or access to legal representation since July 2009. While we welcome the decision by the Iranian authorities to allow Shane, Sarah and Josh to receive another Swiss consular visit at long last, we were deeply alarmed to learn from the families today of their physical and emotional state of health. We fear their well-being will suffer even more unless their case is resolved without delay. We strongly believe these urgent developments are...