American Hikers Released From Iran Prison
Two American hikers who were imprisoned in Iran two years ago after they strayed across the border were released on bail.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were released from a Tehran prison Wednesday into the custody of officials from Oman, who took them straight to the airport, according to reports.
The two men, both 29, were each released on $500,000 bail. They have been held in prison on charges of being spies since they, and a third hiker, were arrested on July 31, 2009 after crossing over to Iran from Iraq during a hike. Sarah Shourd was released a year ago for the same bail on medical grounds.
All three have denied the spy charges. The men were sentenced to eight years in prison; the conviction and sentence are being appealed.
Shourd and Bauer are engaged to be married. All three are graduates of the University of California, Berkeley, and were studying and traveling in the Middle East before they were arrested.
It is suspected that they have been granted bail now in order to soften up the international community as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. The Iranian judiciary delayed the release for a week in an apparent power struggle with Ahmadinejad.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
