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Freed U.S. hiker lands in Oman

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TEHRAN, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. hiker Sarah Shourd reunited with her mother in Oman Tuesday after Iran released her from a Tehran prison where she was held for more than a year.

Shourd arrived in Muscat, Oman, where her $500,000 bail was posted, on a chartered flight from Tehran after her lawyer signed her out of Tehran's Evin Prison and turned her over to Swiss diplomats, representing U.S. interests in Iran, CNN reported.

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"I want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people that have been involved," Shourd said before boarding the plane. "And I especially and particularly want to address (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and all the Iranian officials, the religious leaders, and thank them for this humanitarian gesture. I am grateful. I am very humbled by this moment."

Shourd's mother, Nora, said in a statement, "I've hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days and I cannot wait to wrap Sarah in my arms and hold her close when we are finally together again."

All Americans celebrate Shourd's "long-awaited return home," President Obama said in a statement.

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"We are grateful to the Swiss, the sultanate of Oman, and other friends and allies around the world who have worked tirelessly and admirably over the past several months to bring about this joyous reunion," he said.

While Shourd's release is exciting, the president said, "Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal remain prisoners in Iran who have committed no crime."

Iranian officials said they released Shroud, 32, for medical reasons.

Iranian officials said last week Shourd would be released Saturday, the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But state media reported Friday her release was hung up because of unfinished legal issues. On Sunday, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi announced the country's "readiness for the conditional release" of Shourd, and demanded that $500,000 in bail be posted before she was released.

"It was paid," Dowlatabadi said in a videotape aired on CNN. "The judge issued the release order and Miss Shourd was simply set free and she can leave ... if she wants to."

CNN said the entire amount was posted, despite reports that Shourd's family asked that it be lowered or dropped.

Shourd and Bauer and Fattal, both 27, were arrested July 2009, accused of illegally crossing into Iran and espionage. Their families said the three were hiking in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, and if they crossed the border it was accidental.

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Iran's government-backed Press TV reported Bauer and Fattal will remain in jail and all three hikers will be tried for espionage.

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