American held in Iran returns home

September 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

MUSCAT, Oman

An American woman released from Iran after more than 13 months in custody began her journey back to the United States on Saturday after asking her supporters to “extend your prayers” to her fianc and another American man who remain in Tehran accused of spying.

In a brief statement, Sarah Shourd thanked Oman for mediating the $500,000 bail that led to her freedom earlier last week. But she made no mention of her ordeal inside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison or any health problems — which her mother has said include a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

“Please, please extend your prayers” to the other two Americans still held — her fianc , Shane Bauer, and their friend Josh Fattal — she said at Oman’s international airport before boarding an Oman Air flight on the first leg of her trip home accompanied by her mother, Nora, and an uncle.

She arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Oman late Saturday. She was scheduled to appear at a news conference in New York today timed to coincide with the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the U.N. General Assembly.