Whither the mullahs?

I know that this is about as insightful a comment as...well...anything Cokie Roberts has to say each Monday on NPR, but what the hell: This is great news.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – U.S.-born journalist Roxana Saberi is to be freed soon after an Iranian appeals court cut her eight-year jail sentence for spying to a suspended two-year term.

A judiciary source said Saberi, whose jailing on April 18 on charges of spying for the United States became a new source of tension between Tehran and Washington, had already been released and would be allowed to leave Iran.

But her father Reza said she had not yet walked free after more than three months in detention, saying he was waiting in front of Evin prison in northern Tehran.

"She will be freed today, hopefully. The papers are ready ... it is just a matter of time, a couple of hours," he told Reuters by telephone. "We are very happy."

This seems to be in response to the Obama administration's outreach and upcoming Iranian election, and what makes it remarkable is that there doesn't seem to have been any public attempt by hardliners to screw the deal.