(Thumbnail Image: Free the Hikers)

BY TRACY PFEIFFER

“Today, in a matter of hours, Sarah Shourd’s chance at freedom ended. The government of Iran claimed she would be released Saturday to coincide with the end of Ramadan, a traditional day of forgiveness in the Muslim world. But hours ago, the government said there were ‘legal processes’ yet to be completed.” (KNBC)

The Iranian government has backtracked on its decision to release American Sarah Shourd as an act of clemency, leaving the rest of the world to wonder just what went wrong.

Shourd and two other Americans, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, have been imprisoned in Iran since July 2009 after being captured at the Iraq-Iran border and accused of spying. Family members say if they did cross the border, it was an accident. (Video: France 24)

A writer for the San Francisco Chronicle says the cancellation of Shourd’s release is indicative of growing power struggles within the Iranian government, especially since reports indicate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally intervened to get Shourd out of prison.

“...the Islamic Republic, although often perceived to be an autocratic system with one singular voice, is actually much more complex and features countless players jockeying for leverage or attempting to discredit their rivals.”

NBC’s Los Angeles affiliate interviews a professor who says there could also be international politics at work.

“They’re being used in a larger game in the Middle East, between Iran and the U.S. If they had been really suspected of spying, they would have been charged, and as you mentioned -- they haven’t been. They’ve been kept."

The three American prisoners were allowed a reunion with their mothers at a hotel in May. Despite Shourd’s assurance they were being well-taken care of, her mother tells BBC News her daughter is being denied medical care and might be seriously ill. (Video: KNBC)

“She showed me the lump in her breast. She does have a lump in her breast, you know, and it’s new. You know, at this point, I’m really concerned my daughter could have cancer.”

Finally, a writer for ADAN News says perhaps the United States should look at its own recent behavior and how that might be affecting the powers that be in Iran.

“So is Iran just sort of giving us a taste of our own medicine? We rejoiced over the release of Sarah Shourd – just like Muslims rejoiced when Jones announced that Korans would not be burned. However, as tensions grew, Terry went back on his words – Just like the Iranians did.”