Request to release two U.S. citizens on bail under study: Iran’s Judiciary

TEHRAN, Sept. 14 (MNA) – Judiciary on Wednesday dismissed reports that Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, the two U.S. citizens who were arrested in Iran in 2009, have been released, saying their lawyers’ request to release them on bail is under study.

The Judiciary also said that only the reports published by the Judiciary could be trusted.

Their lawyer Masoud Shafiee told the Fars News Agency on Tuesday that the Judiciary has agreed to release them on bail of $500,000 each.

They can leave the country after payment of the bail, he stated.

He also said that he has informed the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which hosts the U.S. Interests Section in Iran, of the decision.

U.S. citizens Sarah Shourd, Bauer, and Fattal were arrested by border guards on July 31, 2009 after illegally entering Iran’s territory from Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The three were charged with illegal entry and espionage.

Shourd was released from prison on bail of $500,000 on September 14, 2010 and never returned to Iran.

Her case is still open.

On August 22, Bauer and Fattal were sentenced to three years in prison for illegal entry into Iran. They were also sentenced to five years in prison on charges of espionage for a U.S. intelligence agency.

The ruling was subject to appeal for 20 days.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in an interview with NBC on Tuesday, announced that the two U.S. citizens would be released in the next few days.