Iran said Tuesday that it would release two American hikers arrested in 2009 on condition of a $500,000 bail for each, according to media reports.
Massoud Shafiee, the lawyer for Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, said the men can leave Iran after the bail is paid, according to the semi-official FARS news agency.
The two men, along with another U.S. national, Sarah Shourd, were arrested by border guards two years ago after they entered unmarked Iranian territory from the Kurdistan region in Iraq.
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC that the two men will be allowed to leave in the next few days.
“The families of these two Americans and the Swiss embassy which hosts the U.S. interests section in Tehran have been informed of this issue and Bauer and Fattal can leave Iran similar to Sara Shourd,” Shafiee told the agency.
Shourd was freed last year after she posted a $500,000 bond and returned to the U.S.
The hikers were sentenced to three years in prison for illegal entry and were sentenced to another five years in prison on espionage charges.
