Hero’s welcome for journalist

JOURNALIST Roxana Saberi received a hero’s welcome when she returned home to North Dakota in the US after being released from prison in Iran.

Saberi, 32, was greeted at the Fargo airport by a crowd of well-wishers and “Welcome home, Roxana” signs.

Fighting back tears, she said she was surprised at the emotions she felt.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever really cried in public,” she said.

Governor John Hoeven, among the officials who met her after she stepped off the plane, called it a “happy day for the people of North Dakota”.

Saberi, who lived in Iran for six years and has dual citizenship, was arrested on January 31 and charged with spying for the US.

She received an eight- year jail term but an appeal court cut that to a two-year suspended term and freed her on May 11.

She grew up in Fargo where her parents still live.