In this photo released by the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, US hikers Shane Bauer, right, and Josh Fattal, smile, at the Tehran's Mehrabad airport before leaving Iran. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release.
AP Photo/IRNA, Ehsan Nederipour
By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Two Americans released from an Iranian prison
will return to U.S. soil Sunday after being held for more than
two years as accused spies.
Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were scheduled to return from the
middle east Sunday afternoon, according to Samantha Topping, a
spokeswoman for their families. She declined to publicly release
details of their arrival.
The two were released from custody Wednesday and arrived in Oman
under a $1 million bail deal. Their return to the U.S. will be the
end of lengthy ordeal that began in July 2009 when they were
detained along the Iran-Iraq border along with Sarah Shourd, who
was released a year ago under similar terms.
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While in prison, Bauer proposed to Shourd. She was with the
families in Oman to greet the two on the tarmac at a royal airfield
near the main international airport in Oman's capital, Muscat. At
about 20 minutes before midnight Wednesday, Fattal and Bauer,
wearing jeans and casual shirts, bounded down the steps from the
blue-and-white plane. The men appeared very thin and pale, but in
good health.
The three always maintained their innocence, saying they were
only hiking in Iraq's relatively peaceful Kurdish region and might
have accidentally wandered into Iran.
Last month, Fattal and Bauer were sentenced to eight years in
prison each for illegal entry into Iran and espionage.
---
Associated Press write Doug Glass in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
Gallery
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In this May 20, 2010, file photo, American hikers Shane Bauer, left, Sarah Shourd, center, and Josh Fattal, sit at the Esteghlal Hotel in Tehran, Iran. The mothers of three Americans detained on Iran since last July 31, are again pleading for their release as the one-year anniversary of their capture approaches. The mothers on Thursday July 15, 2010 released a letter they sent to the head of Iran's judiciary.
AP Photo/Press TV, File
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In this photo released by the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, US hikers Shane Bauer, right, and Josh Fattal, smile, at the Tehran's Mehrabad airport before leaving Iran. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release.
AP Photo/IRNA, Ehsan Nederipour
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In this photo taken in July 2011, US hikers Shane Bauer, right, and Josh Fattal, walk in a park in northern Tehran, during custody in Iran. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release.
