2:51am UK, Saturday May 23, 2009

An American journalist who spent four months in an Iranian prison was greeted with cheers and hugs from friends as she returned to the United States.

Escorted by friends and family, Roxana Saberi arrives back in the States

Roxana Saberi told reporters upon her arrival that singing the national anthem helped keep her going.

She added: “And it may sound corny, but I’m so happy to be home in the land of the free.”

The 32-year-old journalist spoke briefly after arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport with her parents and a family friend.

She spent a week in Vienna recuperating after being released from prison in Iran.

Asked how she was feeling, she said, “Very good.”

“I wish I could personally thank all those who supported me during my 100 days in prison,” she added. 

Among those she thanked were President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, North Dakota lawmakers, human rights groups and the Japanese government.

Miss Saberi, who grew up in America and moved to Iran six years ago, has dual citizenship.

She planned to spend a few days in the capital before returning to her home state of North Dakota.

Miss Saberi was arrested in late January and convicted of spying for the United States in a secret trial that her Iranian-born father said lasted only 15 minutes.

She was freed May 11 and reunited with her parents, who had gone to Iran to seek her release, after an appeals court reduced her sentence to two years and suspended it.

The United States had said the charges against Miss Saberi were baseless and repeatedly demanded her release.

The case against her had become an obstacle to Mr Obama’s attempts at dialogue with the top US adversary in the Middle East.

Miss Saberi had worked as a freelance journalist for several organizations, including the US network National Public Radio.

After her arrest, Iranian authorities initially accused her of working without press credentials.

But later they leveled the far more serious charge of spying. Iran released few details about the allegations that she passed intelligence to the US government.