Iran To Release Roxana Saberi; Alaei Brothers Still Held

This is a most curious gesture on the part of the Iranian regime. They had trumped up charges against Saberi and convicted her of conspiring to overthrow the Iranian government in a sham trial. Now, it looks like they're going to release her after an appeal that took longer than the original trial (if only barely). (HT: Hot Air)

An Iran court has cut jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi’s sentence to two years suspended and she will be freed later on Monday, her lawyer says.

The court heard Ms Saberi’s appeal against her original eight-year prison sentence on Sunday, after an international outcry. …

The five-hour appeal was far longer than the original trial - and before it began Ms Saberi was allowed a half-hour meeting with her lawyer.

Iranian justice is a misnomer. It's a kangaroo court and the regime was pushing this trial and conviction, just as surely as they're now looking to release her.

The question becomes why. Why is the Iranian regime now releasing Saberi? What have they gained from the release? Well, there's the possibility of a quid pro quo - Iran was invited to a conference on how to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan. That's no better than allowing the fox to guard the henhouse since Iran has no interest in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan since they benefit from that instability as it enables the regime to expand its influence.

Meanwhile, the regime continues holding the Alaei brothers, who were similarly convicted of conspiring to overthrow the regime. The brothers are doctors who treat AIDS patients and are well known for their AIDS prevention programs in Iran. One was attending my alma mater in a Ph.D program.

Let's not forget them.

UPDATE:
Jammie also notes the reports of Saberi's pending release.