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Iran says it'll free jailed US duo soon
Source: Agencies |
September 14, 2011, Wednesday
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IRAN will soon free two Americans jailed for spying, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday, in what he called a humanitarian gesture weeks before he travels to the United Nations in New York.
"I think these two persons will be freed in a couple of days," the Iranian leader said through an interpreter in an interview on NBC's "Today" show. "We do it, for example, in a humanitarian gesture."
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were sentenced in Iran last month to eight years in prison. They had been arrested in July 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq, where they say they were hiking in the mountains as tourists, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd.
Bauer and Fattal were convicted last month and share a cell in Tehran's Evin prison. Shourd was allowed to go home after being freed on US$500,000 bail in September 2010.
Washington has denied they were spies. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was encouraged by Ahmadinejad's remarks.
"We have followed this very closely and we are encouraged by what the Iranian government has said today," she told reporters.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was working with Switzerland to find out about the men's status. The Swiss embassy represents US interests in Tehran since the US and Iran broke off diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution.
Their lawyer said the men would soon be free and given permission to leave Iran.
"The appeals court has agreed for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal on US$500,000 bail for each of them ... They can leave Iran right after their release," Masoud Shafie said.
The announcement comes ahead of Ahmadinejad's trip to New York to participate at the UN General Assembly meeting on September 22.
"I think these two persons will be freed in a couple of days," the Iranian leader said through an interpreter in an interview on NBC's "Today" show. "We do it, for example, in a humanitarian gesture."
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were sentenced in Iran last month to eight years in prison. They had been arrested in July 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq, where they say they were hiking in the mountains as tourists, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd.
Bauer and Fattal were convicted last month and share a cell in Tehran's Evin prison. Shourd was allowed to go home after being freed on US$500,000 bail in September 2010.
Washington has denied they were spies. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was encouraged by Ahmadinejad's remarks.
"We have followed this very closely and we are encouraged by what the Iranian government has said today," she told reporters.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was working with Switzerland to find out about the men's status. The Swiss embassy represents US interests in Tehran since the US and Iran broke off diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution.
Their lawyer said the men would soon be free and given permission to leave Iran.
"The appeals court has agreed for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal on US$500,000 bail for each of them ... They can leave Iran right after their release," Masoud Shafie said.
The announcement comes ahead of Ahmadinejad's trip to New York to participate at the UN General Assembly meeting on September 22.
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