Iran frees jailed U.S.-born journalist

By Fredrik Dahl and Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - U.S.-born journalist Roxana Saberi walked free on Monday after an Iranian appeal court cut her eight-year jail sentence for spying to a suspended two-year term.

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

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was heartened by the news, though it still objected to Saberi's espionage conviction.

"She is currently with her family and will be leaving Tehran to return to the United States in the coming days," Clinton told reporters in Washington.

Saberi, a citizen of both the United States and Iran who moved to Iran six years ago, was arrested in January for working in the Islamic Republic after her press credentials had expired.

She was later accused of espionage, a charge that can carry the death sentence, and convicted on April 18.

The United States had said the spying charges were baseless and demanded her immediate release. Tehran does not recognise dual nationality and told Washington not to interfere.

The two countries were already locked in an acrimonious dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, which the West fears is aimed at making arms. Iran says it is to generate electricity.