Milestones

Released

U.S. citizen Sarah Shourd, accused by Iranian authorities of illegal entry and espionage, had been detained in Iran for more than 13 months before she was freed Sept. 14. Shourd, 32, was hiking along the Iraq-Iran border with Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal in July 2009 when the three were arrested and jailed in Tehran's Evin prison. Iran--citing Shourd's health problems, which, according to her mother, include a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells--recently demanded $500,000 in bail for her release. (It was not immediately clear who made payment.) President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued statements welcoming the release, thanking Switzerland and Oman for assistance and urging Iran to free the other two Americans. Iranian authorities, however, announced they would extend the detention of Bauer and Fattal, both 28, for two months. In a joint statement, the families of the three hikers said Bauer--Shourd's fiancé--and Fattal "deserve to come home too. Iran has no grounds to deprive them of their liberty a moment longer."