Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also is due to arrive in the city Sunday to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

Shourd, Bauer — her fiance — and Fattal, a friend of the couple, were detained in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border. Iran has issued espionage-related indictments, which could bring trials for the two men and proceedings in absentia for Shourd.

The Americans’ families say they were hiking, and if they crossed the border, they did so accidentally.

Shourd was freed Tuesday after officials in Oman — an ally of both Iran and the United States — mediated a $500,000 bail.

She left Oman Saturday for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and took a commercial flight from there to Dulles because planes to New York were already full of passengers flying in for the General Assembly meeting, the families said.

Before boarding an Oman Air flight at Oman’s international airport, Shourd asked supporters to “extend your prayers” to Bauer and Fattal. Shourd, 32, did not mention her experiences inside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison or any health problems, which her mother has said include a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

She also expressed special gratitude to Oman, which helped secure a bail arrangement that satisfied Iranian authorities and apparently did not violate U.S. economic sanctions against Iran. The source of the bail payment has not been disclosed.

“I’ll always associate your country with the first breath of my freedom, the sweet smell of sandalwood and a chance to stand by the ocean listening to the waves,” she said Saturday.

Earlier in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said he was hopeful the United States would release several Iranians now that Shourd has been freed.

Ahmadinejad has suggested in the past that the three could be traded for Iranians held in the U.S., raising concerns that the Americans were to be used as bargaining chips as the two countries face off over issues like Iran’s disputed nuclear program. In December, Iran released a list of 11 Iranians it says are in U.S. custody.

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Associated Press writer Adam Schreck contributed to this report from Muscat, Oman.

Among the questions one might ask oneself, if “Salt” ever slowed down after its early triggering incident — when a Russian defector denounces Evelyn as a Soviet sleeper spy, planted in the United States as a child — is whether this return to action stardom suits Jolie or not. Mostly, it does: Her feline grace and imperturbable demeanor equip her well for physical roles that feature minimal introspection, and I continue to believe that the cheesecake Lara Croft films capture Jolie at her funniest and most confident (as well as, yes, her maximum pulchritude). I’m certainly relieved not to watch her fruitlessly chasing Oscar gold in dull, earnest, mid-budget outings like “Changeling” or “A Mighty Heart.”

There’s another side to that equation, though, beginning with the much-publicized fact that Kurt Wimmer’s screenplay was written with a male star in mind, very likely Tom Cruise. (Indeed, “Salt” is conceptually pretty close to Cruise’s underperforming summer release, “Knight and Day.”) Very little of the script was rewritten when Jolie was cast — an intriguing move toward Hollywood gender equality, blah blah blah. But that also means Jolie is stuck in a Tom Cruise role, playing a character who seems borderline nuts, who exhibits no sexuality and hardly any psychological life, and whose personal history consists of plot points with no emotional impact.

Another question I didn’t ask myself about “Salt” until the next morning is whether its warmed-over Cold War game-playing paranoia represents an intriguing twist on an antique formula or just the ideological bankruptcy and collective brain-vacuum of Hollywood. Wimmer’s screenplay is a clever concoction, no doubt. He’s taken elements of “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Dr. Strangelove” and smushed them together in Jack Bauer’s high-tech, amoral universe, so that the story feels old and new, classic and contemporary, at the same time. Stick a blue headband on Angie, and this movie’s a wedding dress. This is also a highly streamlined script, in which we never get that scene where some second-string character delivers a monologue explaining the story. Given the convoluted and nonsensical story of “Salt,” that was a wise choice.

Fortunately for those of us in the viewing audience, Aussie director Noyce is an old hand at this sort of thing, with a thriller career reaching back to “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger” in the early ’90s. He also directed Jolie in her first major Hollywood role, opposite Denzel Washington in the serial-killer drama “The Bone Collector.” (Noyce buffs: Have you seen “Blind Fury,” his ludicrous 1989 American remodel of the “Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman” series? It stars Rutger Hauer, of course, and the tag line is: “He may be blind. But he don’t need no dog.”)

Noyce is one of those mainstream filmmakers little noticed by the public but well loved by critics, and the reason is simple: In an age of self-inflated, portentous moviemaking, he tells stories in fluid and exciting fashion without wasting anybody’s damn time. We begin with disturbing, unexplained images of Jolie-as-Salt being brutally interrogated in a North Korean prison cell — this is the only time we see her undressed, as she’s getting the crap beaten out of her — and we’re pretty much off to the races. What the hell’s going on? Is she a spy or isn’t she? What was she doing in North Korea, and what happened during her interrogation? These are exactly the right questions, which is not to say they’ll ever be answered.

She’s swapped at the border for a North Korean agent and goes back to work at her desk at a CIA-front company in suburban Washington, until the day when an aging Russian defector named Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) shows up just as she’s heading home for an anniversary dinner with Mike (August Diehl), her German arachnologist husband. Wait — he’s German? He’s an arachno-what? Do those things matter? Stay tuned. Salt and her closest agency buddy, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), take on the initial interrogation of Orlov, who’s retailing an ancient and long-debunked Cold War legend. He says he knows about a secret Soviet program to place indoctrinated baby-spies in American families, sleeper agents set to come alive decades later, like little Commie moth larvae, and munch the fabric of freedom from within.

Tell these tall tales to my colleagues, Evelyn says. Hubby’s waiting for me at home and the pinot grigio’s getting warm. OK, says Orlov, but I know the name of a double agent who’s about to launch a daring assassination attempt in New York. She’s called Evelyn Salt. “My name is Evelyn Salt,” she says blankly. “Then you are a Russian spy,” says Orlov.

No, these really aren’t spoilers — we’re still in the first 10 minutes of the film! Suffice it to say that Evelyn’s not going to make that anniversary dinner. Armed only with what she’s wearing and what she can gather from her secret personal stashes of impressive CIA gadgetry, Evelyn’s got to slip free of 35 impossible situations in the next half hour, like a slippery combination of the Road Runner and a bar of soap in the shower. She kicks a whole lot of beefy-dude ass, and Noyce’s clear, measured action sequences are a joy to behold. She sheds her blond professional do for a black wig, thereby looking a lot more like Angelina Jolie. She uses a pair of panties and fire-extinguisher goo to block out security cameras. She climbs in a window and helps a little black girl with her homework. She steals a biker chick’s leather jacket. rides the BoltBus to New York and checks into a hotel — wait a minute, goddammit! Why is she doing exactly what Orlov said she would?

That would be telling. You may or may not figure out what Salt is up to, but Noyce and Wimmer do a superlative job of keeping even the more ridiculous plot possibilities in play, and there’s at least one major plot twist (and probably two) you won’t see coming. I’d have to see the movie again to decide how many clues are visible early on, but I will say that even if “Salt” has nowhere near the narrative density of “Inception,” it’s probably superior purely as a keep-’em-guessing game. Let’s just say that Evelyn is leading Schreiber’s Winter, who still says she may be innocent, and counterintelligence specialist Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who’s trying to kill her, on a cleverly calculated chase. And that she may not be too surprised that they all end up in that secret bunker six floors beneath the White House, where a bluff, Republican-looking president (Hunt Block) considers whether to launch World Wars III, IV and V.

This is a daring, audacious and sometimes terrifying movie — purely as a thrill ride, it’s probably the summer’s best offering so far. That doesn’t mean it left me feeling entirely satisfied. There’s an emptiness at the soul of “Salt” — again, meaning both the movie and the character — that’s extremely disturbing, maybe on purpose. Just as the story tries to reignite our fears of undead Commie hobgoblins, its star — an actress who usually plays on both our prurient interest and our sympathy — plays a woman whose public and private lives are entirely built on lies, and who seems to have no self at all. She’s unstoppable, she’s ferocious, she’s going to fulfill her mysterious mission at all costs. But she’s not particularly likable, or sexy, or even human.

The four Russians who spied for the West were sprung from dismal Russian prisons and flown to Britain and the U.S; it was unclear where they planned to live.

A White House official said Friday the Obama administration began thinking about a possible spy swap as early as June 11, well ahead of the arrests of the 10 suspects on June 27.

White House officials were first briefed on the Russians’ covert activities in February and President Barack Obama was made aware of the case on June 11, the official said. It was then that the idea of a spy swap was raised.

CIA director Leon Panetta approached the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, with a proposed deal, a U.S. official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the intelligence matters.

Ordinary Russians were little impressed Friday with the derring-do of the 10 swapped by the U.S. and taciturn official statements indicated the Kremlin aims to play down the scandal, fearing it could undermine improving relations with Washington.

The diplomatic maneuverings and soundless drama of the swap — seen only at a distance through cameras’ lenses — was classic high-level intrigue. But whether the intelligence provided was equally dramatic is mostly in doubt.

One of the four sent out of Russia — ex-colonel Alexander Zaporozhsky — may have exposed information leading to the capture of Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames, two of the most damaging spies ever caught in the U.S. But another, Igor Sutyagin, says he didn’t pass along any information that wasn’t available through open sources.

The others were Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in the Russian military intelligence, who was found guilty of passing state secrets to Britain and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006, and Gennady Vasilenko, a former KGB officer. The latter was sentenced in 2006 to three years in prison for illegal weapons possession and resistance to authorities.

The 10 deported from the United States apparently uncovered little of value and were watched by the FBI for years.

“It all looks like a bit of a farce, an imitation of the times of serious confrontation between the superpowers,” journalist and rights activist Alexander Podrabinek wrote Friday in the online newspaper Ezhedyevny Zhurnal.

After not commenting for days, the Justice Department in Washington finally announced the spy swap had been completed after the two planes touched down in Moscow and London.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the swap, but said only that those involved had been “accused” or “convicted” of unspecified offenses.

Since the Obama administration began assiduously pursuing a “reset” of relations with Russia, which had deteriorated sharply during George W. Bush’s presidency, Russia has been eager to portray itself as a cooperative partner — though not a pushover.

Russian politicians widely claimed the June 27 arrests were a rearguard action by unspecified reactionary American elements to wreck the effort to improve relations. Some 53 percent of Russians agree with that position, according to an opinion survey released Friday by the respected pollster Levada Center.

“The fact that this whole affair was resolved very quickly is proof that neither side wants to stir up conflict and wants to minimize consequences,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs.

Some touchy elements remain unresolved. The alleged paymaster for the U.S. spy ring was still a fugitive after jumping bail in Cyprus. Neither the U.S. or Russia have commented on his whereabouts.

The four men expelled by Russia also face separation from their loved ones and homeland — although the fact that President Dmitry Medvedev issued them pardons raises the possibility they could return.

To start the whirlwind exchange, two planes — one from New York and another from Moscow — arrived Friday in Vienna within minutes of each other. They parked nose-to-tail at a remote section on the tarmac, exchanged spies using a small bus, then quickly departed. In all, it took less than an hour and a half.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry Yak-42 then flew to Moscow carrying the 10 people deported from the U.S., and the maroon-and-white Boeing 767-200 that had brought them from New York whisked away the four Russians.

The U.S. charter landed briefly at RAF Brize Norton air base in southern England, where a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two of the four Russians were dropped off before the plane headed back across the Atlantic with the others.

Sutyagin, an arms researcher convicted of spying for the United States via an alleged CIA front in Britain, had told relatives earlier that he was loath to leave his homeland. He said he signed a confession and agreed to be part of the swap for fear of ruining everyone else’s chances — and for fear of abuse and misery in the three years remaining in his prison term.

Those arrested in the U.S. pleaded guilty to acting as foreign agents, a lesser charge than espionage that raised questions about whether they had gathered much information.

U.S. officials said some of those freed by Russia were ailing, and cited humanitarian concerns for arranging the swap. They said no substantial benefit to U.S. national security would have been gained from keeping the captured low-level agents in U.S. prisons for years.

“This sends a powerful signal to people who cooperate with us that we will stay loyal to you,” said former CIA officer Peter Earnest. “Even if you have been in jail for years, we will not forget you.”

The lawyer for one of the 10 arrested in the U.S., Vicky Pelaez, said the Russian government had offered her $2,000 a month for life, housing and help with her children. However, she has said she wants to return to her native Peru.

Pelaez and two of the other swapped spies, Mikhail Semenko and Anna Chapman, used their real names in the U.S. The others used the names Tracey Lee Ann Foley, Donald Howard Heathfield, Juan Lazaro, Patricia Mills, Richard and Cynthia Murphy and Michael Zottoli.

To some Russians, the 10 had dream lives in the U.S.

“The guys were unlucky. They had a good life, made good money,” said Artem Ivanov, a businessman. “It is hard to call these people heroes.”

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Associated Press Writers Veronika Oleskyn, Vanessa Gera and George Jahn in Vienna; Khristina Narizhnaya and David Nowak in Moscow; Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London; and Matt Lee and Calvin Woodward in Washington contributed to this report.

On the U.S. end of the spy swap, Wood ordered 10 defendants who admitted acting as Russian spies deported from the United States.

The letter did not name the four, describing three of them as having been “convicted of treason in the form of espionage on behalf of a foreign power” and serving lengthy prison terms.

“The Russian prisoners have all served a number of years in prison and some are in poor health,” the letter added.

The family members of the four will leave with them for resettlement.

Three of the four were accused by Russia of contacting Western intelligence agencies while they were working for the Russian or Soviet government, the letter stated.

Prosecutors released a copy of the indictment the same day that federal judges in Boston and Alexandria, Va., signed orders directing that five defendants arrested in Massachusetts and Virginia be transferred to New York, where the charges originated.

The legal developments came amid reports that American officials were meeting with the Russian ambassador in Washington and a claim by the brother of a convicted spy in Russia that his brother has been told he will be swapped for Russians arrested in the United States.

Janice Oh, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, declined to comment on speculation about a spy swap.

The government also released a copy of a letter written Tuesday notifying a judge that it was appealing a magistrate judge’s decision to set bail at $250,000 for Vicky Pelaez, a U.S. citizen charged in the case. No hearing was immediately set.

John Rodriguez, a lawyer for Pelaez, said she has met the conditions required for her release, which could occur within hours. Her bail conditions require her to be remain at home, where an electronic bracelet will monitor her whereabouts.

The defendants were accused of living seemingly ordinary lives in America while they acted as unregistered agents for the Russian government, sending secret messages and carrying out orders they received from their Russian contacts.

All have remained in custody except for a man identified as Christopher R. Metsos, who was ordered released on bail last week by a court in Cyprus and is now a fugitive.

Messages left with other lawyers for five defendants in New York Wednesday have not immediately been returned.

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Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.