U.S. President Barack Obama met Thursday with the American hiker recently freed by Iran and the mothers of her two friends still being detained in Tehran.
The White House said Mr. Obama wanted to personally welcome Sarah Shourd back to the Untied States following her more than one year long detention.
Mr. Obama told Shourd, her mother and the mothers of the other two U.S. hikers that the occasion is "bittersweet" because Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are still being held in Iran.
Iranian border guards seized the three U.S. hikers last year after Iran says they crossed from Iraq into Iranian territory.
Shourd was freed earlier this month on $500,000 bail. She told VOA that she and her two friends were victims of bad circumstances.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
