Freed U.S.-born reporter says to rest, be with family

TEHRAN (Reuters) - U.S.-born reporter Roxana Saberi, free after more than three months in an Iranian jail, said on Tuesday she wanted to rest and be with her family after being acquitted of spying for the United States.

The 32-year-old, whose father said she had been on a two-week hunger strike in prison, made her first public appearance since she walked free on Monday after her eight-year sentence was cut to two years, suspended for five years.

Her release removed a snag in U.S. President Barack Obama's attempts to improve U.S.-Iranian relations after three decades of mutual mistrust. On Monday, Obama welcomed Iran's move to free Saberi as a "humanitarian gesture."

Reza Saberi said his daughter had made "statements under some pressure" after her arrest in January that she later took back and this was accepted by the appeal court.

"She allegedly pleaded guilty first and then retracted her statements," he said, without elaborating.

Even though she appeared to have lost weight while in jail, she was visibly more relaxed and rested than when she arrived at a Tehran court on Sunday for a hearing on her appeal against her April 18 conviction. A day later, she was freed.

"I'm very happy to be released and to be with my father and mother again," a smiling Saberi told reporters outside her apartment building in the capital, wearing a blue headscarf.

"I'm thanking all those people around the world who knew me or who didn't know me but helped my release. Right now I just want to be with my parents and my friends and to rest a little bit," the former Miss North Dakota said.

"ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS"

Reza, who moved to the United States in the 1970s but returned with his wife to follow their daughter's case, said the family planned to leave Iran but did not say when.

"Last night she had a good sleep and she ate food," he said. "Of course, prison is not pleasant for anyone."

Reza Saberi said his daughter had been under psychological pressure in prison.

"It had a lot of psychological pressure, as she has said before. There was no physical abuse or anything, but just to be there, for her to be confined in one room and not to be able to do any of the activities that she used to do, it was so hard for her. But now she is happy that she is out," he told National Public Radio.

Reza Saberi said the family would go back to the United States and go to their house in Fargo, North Dakota.

He said his daughter could legally return to Iran but "it is unlikely she will come back. She will start working in the States most probably, or another place ... she is not allowed to work here anymore during these five years. As a journalist, she cannot work, no."

Saberi, a citizen of both the United States and Iran, was arrested for working in the Islamic Republic after her press credentials had expired. She was later accused of spying.

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

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

Obama has offered Iran a fresh start in relations, though Iran says Washington must first show real policy change.

Saberi's defense lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said she faced no legal restrictions on leaving Iran.

He said Saberi in the appeal hearing had "accepted she had made a mistake and got access to documents she should not have. But there was no transfer of any classified information."

Another member of the defense team told the ISNA news agency the court had acquitted her of spying but convicted her under a law covering offences including taking pictures or videos in areas where photography is banned.

(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari and Parisa Hafezi in Tehran, and Deborah Charles in Washington; Writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Jon Hemming)