Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi who was convicted for spying against Iran has thanked the US Secretary of State for pressuring Tehran to release her.

During a meeting with the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Wednesday, Saberi said that efforts by US diplomats sustained her during her incarceration at Tehran's Evin prison.

"When I found out that I had the support while I was in prison, I gained a lot of strength and hope. I did not feel so alone any more," Saberi told reporters at the State Department.

In March, Clinton's staff broke with Washington's usual stance on Iran at a conference in The Hague and handed a letter to Tehran's delegation, urging Saberi's release on humanitarian grounds, Reuters reported.

The US-born journalist was released on May 11 after an Iranian court cut her eight-year jail sentence for spying to a suspended two-year term, after spending three months in prison.

During her detention, Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrote a letter to the Judiciary and asked for a fair trial for Saberi.

At that time, Ahmadinejad urged Judiciary officials to make sure that the legal proceedings for Saberi were not diverted from the path of law and highlighted her right to defend herself.

However, Saberi, who had confessed that she had been engaged in acts of espionage by gaining access to classified documents, never thanked Iranian officials for her release.

MGH/SME/RE