Update: Roxana Saberi Freed

The United States journalist Roxana Saberi was released from prison today after being imprisoned on espionage charges in Iran for several months.

President Barack Obama was involved in her release, marking a change in direction from previous strained relationships with the Iranian government and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“She is currently with her family, and will be leaving Tehran to return to the United States in the coming days,” said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, adding that the administration will “continue to take issue with the charges against her and the verdicts rendered.”

Her sentence was cut short, from eight years in prison to a two-year term, after being found guilty of espionage by the Iranian government four months ago.

Saberi, a 31-year-old Iranian-American from North Dakota has been living in Iran since 2003, freelancing for several prominent news outlets including National Public Radio, BBC, ABC and Fox.

In 2006 her media credentials were revoked by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which allows journalists to work in the country.

“According to National Public Radio, Saberi continued to file short news items with government permission,” the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a journalists’ advocacy group said.

Saberi was first detained in January, though no formal charges were provided said the CPJ.

“She told her family that she was initially held for buying a bottle of wine. A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said later that Saberi was being detained at Tehran’s Evin Prison for reporting ‎without proper accreditation.”

Evin Prison frequently detains prisoners for political and social defiance. “At least two journalists have died ‎there in the last six years amid circumstances that have not been fully explained,” ‎said the CPJ.

On April 8 Saberi was charged with espionage, “Without press credentials and under the name of being a reporter, she was carrying out espionage activities,” Hassan Haddad, Iranian deputy public prosecutor said.

Iran media is strictly censored, and has one of the worst records for press harassment and imprisonment in the world. Not only does the censorship programs limit the availability of information, but also influences of western culture, or anything divergent from religious standards.