TEHRAN, Iran — The mothers of three Americans jailed in Iran for 10 months were returning home today without securing an immediate release for their children, witnesses said.

The mothers had more time with their children today after an emotional reunion a day earlier in a Tehran hotel overlooking Evin prison, where the three have been held since their arrest in July along the Iran-Iraq border.

But in the evening, they left the Estaghlal hotel and were driven to Tehran's international airport to return home to the United States, the witnesses at the hotel said. Their children, Sarah Shourd, 31; Shane Bauer, 27; and Josh Fattal, 27, were taken by authorities back to Evin, the witnesses said.

The mothers arrived Wednesday and said they hoped their children would be allowed to return with them — or at least that they would be allowed to make an appeal for their freedom directly to Iranian leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

But so far, Iranian authorities have given no indication that the three could be freed, and the mothers are not known to have met any high-level officials.