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Freed American duo leave Tehran
Source: Agencies |
September 22, 2011, Thursday
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TWO Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran yesterday, closing a high-profile drama with Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as Iran's rulers rejected calls for their release.
Iran's state news agency IRNA said Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal left Iran just as darkness fell in the capital. An Omani official said the men were flying to the capital, Muscat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He did not say how long the two men will stay in the Gulf state before heading home to America.
The case of Bauer and Fattal, who were convicted by an Iranian court of spying for the United States, has deepened strains in the already fraught relationship between Washington and Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was first to mention last week that the Americans' could be released, is in the US and is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly today.
Reporters saw a convoy of vehicles with Swiss and Omani diplomats leaving Evin prison yesterday afternoon with Bauer and Fattal inside, heading to Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
Switzerland represents American interests in Iran because the US has no diplomatic relations with Tehran.
Paperwork
The two men, both 29, were driven out just minutes after their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he has completed the paperwork for their release.
"I have finished the job that I had to do as their lawyer," Shafiei said. He obtained signatures of two judges on a bail-for-freedom deal. A US$1 million bail - US$500,000 for each one - was posted.
Police vehicles escorted the convoy of Swiss and Omani vehicles, carrying the two Americans to Mehrabad airport, which was once Tehran's main gateway to the world but is now used for domestic flights. The airport is near the massive Azadi Square, which Iran uses to hold military parades but also was a temporary hub for protesters after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009.
Bauer and Fattal were arrested on the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years in jail. A third American arrested with them, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on bail. She was flown on a private plane to Muscat after leaving the prison.
Since her release, Shourd has lived in Oakland, California. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minnesota, and Fattal, en environmental activist, is from suburban Philadelphia.
Bauer proposed marriage to Shourd while in prison.
It was not clear where the two men will be reunited with their families after their release.
Iran's state news agency IRNA said Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal left Iran just as darkness fell in the capital. An Omani official said the men were flying to the capital, Muscat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He did not say how long the two men will stay in the Gulf state before heading home to America.
The case of Bauer and Fattal, who were convicted by an Iranian court of spying for the United States, has deepened strains in the already fraught relationship between Washington and Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was first to mention last week that the Americans' could be released, is in the US and is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly today.
Reporters saw a convoy of vehicles with Swiss and Omani diplomats leaving Evin prison yesterday afternoon with Bauer and Fattal inside, heading to Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
Switzerland represents American interests in Iran because the US has no diplomatic relations with Tehran.
Paperwork
The two men, both 29, were driven out just minutes after their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he has completed the paperwork for their release.
"I have finished the job that I had to do as their lawyer," Shafiei said. He obtained signatures of two judges on a bail-for-freedom deal. A US$1 million bail - US$500,000 for each one - was posted.
Police vehicles escorted the convoy of Swiss and Omani vehicles, carrying the two Americans to Mehrabad airport, which was once Tehran's main gateway to the world but is now used for domestic flights. The airport is near the massive Azadi Square, which Iran uses to hold military parades but also was a temporary hub for protesters after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009.
Bauer and Fattal were arrested on the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years in jail. A third American arrested with them, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on bail. She was flown on a private plane to Muscat after leaving the prison.
Since her release, Shourd has lived in Oakland, California. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minnesota, and Fattal, en environmental activist, is from suburban Philadelphia.
Bauer proposed marriage to Shourd while in prison.
It was not clear where the two men will be reunited with their families after their release.
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