Iran Judiciary Allows Release Of U.S. Detainees On Bail

The appellate court has finally agreed that two imprisoned Americans can be released on bail.

ISNA reports that the Iranian judiciary has complied with the request from defence lawyer Massoud Shafii to release Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal on bail until a final verdict is issued.

Tehran’s Revolutionary Court has already sentenced them to eight years in prison on charges of “illegal entry and spying for U.S. agencies.”

Shafii announced that the government of Oman has already put up the $500,000 bail for each prisoner.

Recently, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a U.S. television network that the two Americans would soon be released on bail, but the judiciary then announced that the appellate court has not yet issued any sentences.

Iraq and Oman have been reportedly mediating with Islamic Republic authorities to secure the release of Bauer and Fattal.

The two U.S. citizens, together with their companion Sarah Shourd, were arrested in the border regions of Iran and Iraq in July of 2009 and charged with trespassing. Iranian authorities later added the charge of espionage.

The Americans denied the charges and always claimed they had been on a hiking trip when they inadvertently strayed into Iranian territory.

Shourd was released on similar bail last September for medical reasons and is currently in the U.S.