American Hiker Sarah Shourd to Head Straight to Doctor's Office

Sept. 15, 2010 -- American Sarah Shourd is feeling "strong and healthy," according to a source close to the hiker's family.

After almost 14 months of mostly solitary confinement in Iran on charges of espionage, Shourd was released Tuesday on $500,000 bail partially because of medical concerns, Iranian officials said. She reportedly is suffering from a serious gynecological condition and found a lump in her breast.

Shourd was scheduled to visit a doctor today for a medical examination on her first day of freedom from an Iranian prison, sources familiar with the situation told ABC News.

Swiss diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iran warned Shourd's family last May that the 32-year-old woman was suffering from depression.

Public discussion of her release began on Sept. 9 after a lawyer for Shourd claimed he "warned" Iranian officials that her health was deteriating.

"I gave a letter to Tehran investigators, and I warned [them] about Sarah's situation, and that her health is very weak. They can hold them for up to a year for the investigation, but not more than a year if they haven't been given a proper trial," attorney Masoud Shafie told ABC News through a translator last week.

Earlier this month, Shourd's mother, along with the mothers of two other American hikers still currently detained in Iran, pleaded Iranian officials to release the hikers, saying she were "gravely concerned" for Shourd's health.

As Shourd receives medical attention today, the mothers of the other two captives made an impassioned plea directly to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to free their sons.

"Josh and Shane are still detained in Iran, as you well know," Laura Fattal said on "Good Morning America" of her son Josh Fattal and his friend, Shane Bauer, directly addressing Ahmadinejad. "We thank you for bringing Sarah home, but now it is time [to] bring Josh and Shane home. We urge you ... to show the same compassion you had for Sarah to bring Josh and Shane home."

"I was very happy for Sarah and her mom," Cindy Hicky, Bauer's mother, said. "But very sad that Shane wouldn't be coming with her. ... How hard it must have been for them to separate."

Sarah Shourd's Fiance Remain in Iranian Prison

Bauer and Shourd became engaged while they were in captivity and broke the news to their parents in May during the only meeting the mothers and prisoners have had since their July 2009 arrests. They were captured while hiking near the relatively unmarked Iran-Iraq border after allegedly crossing into Iran. They have been accused of espionage.

Upon release, Shourd said she would do everything she could to secure her fiance's and friend's release.

"All of my efforts, starting today, are going to go into helping procure the same freedom for my fiance Shane Bauer and my friend Josh Fattal because I can't enjoy my freedom without them," she said Tuesday. "They should be standing here with me."

When she was released, Shourd thanked officials in Iran and singled out Ahmadinejad for the "humanitarian gesture." Fattal and Hicky also thanked Ahmadinejad for what they called his intervention in Shourd's case, and agreed with a State Department challenge for him to bring the two captives with him when Ahmadinejad comes to the United States for an upcoming United Nations presentation.

"We're always hopeful. ... I hope he really takes that to heart," Hicky said.

"It's their turn now," Fattal said.

The hikers' mothers offered a similar challenge for Ahmadinejad to bring home all three hikers before his last appearance at the U.N. in May. Then, Ahmadinejad said he had "no influence" over the judicial process.

"We have laws. There's a due process of law that is being observed," Ahmadinejad told "GMA's" George Stephanopoulos May 4. "The judicial system in Iran is independent of political influence. It's under the influence of judicial laws."

President Obama Asks Iran to Release Two More Hikers

President Obama said Tuesday he was "very pleased" by Shourd's release and called for the release of the other two hikers in a statement, saying they "have committed no crime."

"We remain hopeful that Iran will demonstrate renewed compassion by ensuring the return of Shane, Josh and all the other missing or detained Americans in Iran," Obama said.

The State Department said that the willingness to release Shourd proved Iran's ability to "resolve" all the hikers' cases.

Iranian officials, including Ahmadinejad, had announced last week that Shourd would be released Sept. 11.

Officials in Iran's judiciary canceled Shourd's release Friday, but reversed the decision Sunday on the condition that her family post $500,000 bail, according to an Iranian prosecutor who spoke to Iran's IRNA news agency.

A "bank guarantee" for the bail had been given, an attorney for the hikers, Masoud Shafie, told ABC News Tuesday.

"The case inspector informed the Tehran prosecutor of a bank guarantee concerning the posting of bail and after the prosecutor's agreement, he issued the order for her freedom," the prosecutor's website said Tuesday, according to PressTV Iran.

The report did not say who was responsible for the guarantee, but two U.S. officials said Iran had received "assurances" from the country of Oman concerning the bail money.

A senior U.S. official familiar with the negotiations said Monday that the U.S. government would not be contributing any cash for Shourd's release.

ABC News' Jason Stine, Kirit Radia, Sabrina Parise, Thea Trachtenberg, Kevin Dolak, Jessica Hopper and the Associated Press contributed to this report.