Iran to release jailed US hikers, lawyer says

TEHRAN?? The lawyer for two Americans jailed as spies in Iran says a $1 million bail-for-freedom deal has been approved by the courts, clearing the way for the release of the men after more than two years in custody.

The Iranian attorney for the two, Masoud Shafiei, said he planned to go to Tehran's Evin prison to begin the procedure for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29.

"The case is over," Shafiei said. "The court has ordered that they be freed on bail."

Earlier, Shafiei told Reuters that he had obtained the "necessary signatures from judiciary officials for their release."

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Video: Lawyer: Iran to release jailed US hikers (on this page)

At 6:15 a.m. ET, Reuters reported that a Swiss Embassy convoy had been spotted at the prison where the men were being held.

The Swiss diplomatic mission has represented U.S. interests in Iran since Washington cut off diplomatic relations with Tehran shortly after its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

State-run Press TV reported that Iran's judiciary confirmed that Bauer and Fattal had been released.

Bauer and Fattal were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years each in prison. A third American in the group, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on bail.

Video: U.S. hikers sentenced to 8 years in Iran (on this page)

The case has deepened the mistrust between Washington and Tehran.

Ahead of his annual trip to the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC's TODAY last week that Bauer and Fattal would be freed "in a couple of days" as a humanitarian gesture.

Video: Ahmadinejad: Jailed hikers to be freed (on this page)

Ahmadinejad appeared to have been trying to get the Americans released in time for his arrival at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday.

But the Iranian judiciary, controlled by conservative hardliners at odds with Ahmadinejad, immediately rejected a swift release on bail, saying the matter was under review.

Shafiei said last week the men would be freed on $500,000 bail each. Shourd was allowed to go home on $500,000 bail in September 2010.

Iraqi help?
Last week, Oman dispatched a plane belonging to the Gulf country's ruler to fetch the two Americans if the freedom-for-bail was reached.

Omani officials declined to comment on the ongoing proceedings for the Americans' release. They only said the private plane, sent from Muscat to the Iranian capital last Wednesday, was still in Tehran.

Timeline: Detained hikers (on this page)

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani helped to mediate the pending release of Fattal and Bauer, according to Iraqi officials.

The three Americans ? friends from their days at the University of California at Berkeley ? have maintained their innocence and denied the espionage charges against them.

Their families say the three Americans were just hiking in northern Iraq's scenic and relatively peaceful Kurdish region when they may have accidentally strayed over the unmarked border.

Their trial was held behind closed doors.

The last direct contact family members had with Bauer and Fattal was in May 2010 when their mothers were permitted a short visit in Tehran.

Since her release last year, Shourd has lived in Oakland, California. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minnesota, and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from suburban Philadelphia.

Bauer proposed marriage to Shourd while in prison.??

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44605964/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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