Iranian Prosecutor Ready to Release American Woman

After a power struggle within Iran's conservative leadership put her freedom in doubt, an American woman arrested more than a year ago along the Iraq border is on the verge of heading home. Her two companions, however, could be on their way to spy trials.

Sarah Shourd could be released in the “next two or three days” - or even sooner - after $500,000 bail is paid, said Masoud Shafiei, the Iranian lawyer for Shourd and the other detained Americans, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had personally promised Shourd's release on Friday as a sign of Islamic compassion at the end of the holy month of Ramadan but was quickly slammed down by the judiciary - which turned around Sunday and set its own ground rules, including the bail amount. Swiss diplomats, who represent U.S. interests in Iran because the two countries do not have direct diplomatic relations, were making arrangements to post bail.

“Based on the judiciary decision, the lady will be released,” Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said at a news conference.

But as Iranian authorities paved the way for Shourd's release on health grounds, they also appeared to be moving their espionage accusations into high gear. Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said indictments against the three Americans were issued Sunday and the prosecution's case is nearly complete.

That could mean trials for Bauer and Fattal, both 28, and proceedings in absentia for Shourd, 32. Convictions could bring prison sentences of up to 10 years each.

“The suspects did not confess, but we have enough reasons in hand for their spying charges,” Dowlatabadi said.

Iran has accused the three of illegally crossing the border and spying in a case that has deepened tensions with Washington - which has led the push for tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The detainees' families say they were hiking in Iraq's scenic north when they were detained on July 31, 2009, and that if they crossed the border, they did so unwittingly.

The three are being held at Tehran's Evin Prison, which also holds hundreds of opposition activists and others arrested in the crackdown after last year's disputed presidential election.

Shourd's mother has said her daughter has been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. Nora Shourd, of Oakland, California, could not be reached for comment Sunday.