Iran to free US hikers jailed for spying

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were detained for entering country illegally, along with Sarah Shourd who was freed last year Two Americans sentenced in Iran to eight years in jail for espionage and illegally crossing the border are set for release on bail, their lawyer said on Tuesday. News of the deal came after Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, revealed in separate interviews with two US media organisations that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, who had already been held for two years, will be able to return home in the next few days. In an interview with the semi-official Fars news agency, lawyer Masoud Shafii later confirmed Ahmadinejad’s remarks over Iran’s decision to release the two men, saying they are expected to be freed after paying $500,000 (£316,000) in bail money. The pair were arrested by Iranian security officials in July 2009 along with a friend, Sarah Shourd, 33, after walking across an unmarked border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan. Last September, in a similar move and with the same amount of bail, Shourd who became engaged to Bauer while in jail, was released on health grounds. “The families of these two Americans and the Swiss embassy which hosts the US interests section in Tehran have been informed of this issue and Bauer and Fattal can leave Iran similar to Sara Shourd,” Fars added. The Washington Post quoted president Ahmadinejad as saying that Bauer and Fattal were granted a “unilateral pardon”. “I am helping to arrange for their release in a couple of days so they will be able to return home,” he told the paper in an interview in Tehran. “This is of course going to be a unilateral humanitarian gesture.” The US network NBC, which also interviewed the president on the same day, said the Americans will be released in two days. Ahmadinejad appears to be crediting himself for their expected release ahead of his visit to New York for the UN general assembly meeting later this month. In August, an Iranian court sentenced the two men each to three years for illegally entering Iran and a further five years for spying for US intelligence services. Their lawyer lodged an appeal against the sentences and Amnesty International said their conviction made a “mockery of justice”. The court’s verdict was at odds with earlier comments made by Iran’s foreign ministry officials who said before the trial that they would be freed. The contrast highlighted a growing rift between Iran’s judiciary, which is close to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Ahmadinejad’s government. It is not clear why Iran has finally decided to grant them an apparent clemency but international pressure and Iran’s isolation in the region could be factors. A deal might also have been made in exchange for the lifting of the travel ban on Fereidoun Abbasi-Davani, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency. The offer to release the Americans comes two days after Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Iran is ready to resume nuclear talks with the EU. It might be an attempt by Iran to reduce tensions with the US and other powers involved in negotiations over its nuclear programme. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said on Monday he was “increasingly concerned” over Iran’s nuclear activities, which the west worries might have military dimensions. Iran says it wants nuclear energy for producing electricity. Iran Middle East United States Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 13, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.