Quote:

---

American Sarah Shourd was reunited with her mother in Muscat, Oman, on Tuesday after Iranian authorities released her from a Tehran prison where she had been held for 14 months, a source familiar with Shourd's movements told CNN.

Shourd arrived in Oman -- where her bail was posted -- on a chartered flight from Tehran.

"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," she said. "I am grateful. I am very humbled by this moment."

President Barack Obama thanked authorities in Switzerland, Oman and everyone else who "worked tirelessly and admirably over the past several months to bring about this joyous reunion."

Shourd, 32, left prison wearing a red head scarf and without any belongings, Shafii said. Her release was bittersweet because she was leaving behind fellow Americans Shane Bauer, 28, who is her fiance, and Josh Fattal, 28.

Shourd told Shafii she wished all three were walking out together. Obama urged Iran to release Bauer and Fattal as well.

Iranian prison officials who processed Shourd's release gathered to say goodbye to her and wish her well, Shafii said. One official told her he hoped never to see her again in the notorious Tehran prison.

Dolatabadi said Tuesday that Bauer and Fattal will remain in jail until their trial. The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the detention for the two Americans had been extended by two months.

A judge decided to allow Shourd to be released on bail because of her medical condition, IRNA said Sunday, citing Dolatabadi. Shourd had a pre-existing gynecological problem, and her family says she now also has a lump in her breast, according to Shafii.

Iranian officials have apparently changed their stance on Shourd's release several times since last week. Iranian officials announced Thursday that Shourd would be released on Saturday, at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But state media announced Friday that the release had been called off because legal procedures had not yet been resolved.

Some analysts said it is not a coincidence that Shourd's release comes as Ahmadinejad is about to attend the U.N. General Assembly's meeting later this month.

"I think President Ahmadinejad really wanted to use this as a way of building up a store of goodwill just before he comes to New York," said Gary Sick, a professor at Columbia University and a former National Security Council Iran analyst.

---