Iran ‘willing to free jailed Americans’

Iran’s foreign minister has said the courts are willing in “the near future” to commute the prison sentences for two Americans convicted of spying.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Sep 2011, 07:00 BST

In a case that has added to the acrimony and deep distrust between Iran and the US, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, were detained along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 with their friend Sarah Shourd.

Ms Shourd was released last September after mediation by the Gulf nation of Oman and the payment of $500,000 (£317,000).

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The release of the two men rests in the hands of the hard-line judiciary, and foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi gave no clear timetable in his remarks.

He also raised the issue of Iranians held in US prisons, suggesting the Americans’ release might be drawn out to bring attention to inmates Iran wants freed.

The two men were convicted of illegally entering Iran and spying for the US and were sentenced to a total of eight years in prison each. They denied the charges and appealed against the verdicts, opening the way for a possible deal to free them.

Related topics:IranAmericansIraq