Two American hikers imprisoned as spies in Iran for more than two years were released on bail Wednesday, Iranian and U.S. officials said.
The news of their release comes a day before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, were convicted last month of entering Iran illegally and spying for the United States, and each sentenced to eight years in prison.
They have not yet been seen leaving Evin Prison, but their attorney, Masoud Shafiee, went into the facility earlier in the day with paperwork to show that the $500,000 bail had been paid for each of them.
Swiss and Omani officials are outside the prison waiting to receive the Americans. Switzerland represents United States interests in Iran because there is no American embassy there.
Fattal and Bauer were arrested along with a third hiker, Sarah Shourd, in July 2009 after apparently straying over an unmarked border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran. Shourd was freed almost exactly a year ago on medical grounds.
Shafiee went to the prison Wednesday afternoon to complete the release paperwork for the two men, after a judge earlier had signed the bail papers.
He declined to say who was paying bail for the men.
The Americans say they accidentally crossed into Iran when they veered off a dirt road while hiking near a sight-seeing venture in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. They have denied the charges and appealed the sentence while serving time in prison.
High-profile American Muslims including boxing legend Muhammad Ali have called for their release, and a high-profile delegation and Christian and Muslim American religious leaders met Ahmadinejad in Iran last week to plead for their freedom.
Ahmadinejad said before the meeting that the release of Fattal and Bauer was imminent, setting off a week-long roller coaster ride of expectations.
The judiciary shot back that only it could make decisions about their release.
Shafiee then announced that all the paperwork had been filed for them to be freed on bail, but their release was delayed by the lack of a judge’s signature on bail paperwork.
An Omani official flew to Iran on September 14 to help work on any negotiation, a Western diplomat told CNN at the time.
Oman helped secure the release of Shourd, posting her bail last September, a senior Obama administration official said at the time.
(Source: CNN)
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One Response
OF COURSE, no way Achmejidan….could come to America without freeing them.. THis is not from the goodness of his heart rather correct politics.
Thank gd they are free…now let’s get Gross out of Cuba.