Us-iran Relations, U.s. Hikers | featured news

Two American men jailed in Iran for more than two years for spying arrived in New York on Sunday, saying they were innocent and had been held hostage simply because of their nationality.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the American hikers jailed in Iran on spying charges since 2009, were freed from prison Wednesday and flown to Oman for a joyful reunion with family members. “We’re so happy we are free,” Fattal told reporters at Muscat International Airport in Oman. The 29-year-old Californians and a companion, Sarah Shourd, were arrested in the mountainous region between Iraq and Iran for supposedly crossing the border; their detention further frayed diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran.

Iran's foreign minister says the courts are willing "in near future" to commute the prison sentences for two jailed Americans convicted for spying. Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran's judiciary was ready to cancel the sentences as a gesture of Islamic mercy. But he did not give any clearer indication on when the two men could be released.

The lawyer for two Americans jailed in Iran on charges of espionage says his clients could be released after a court hearing slated for Sunday.

The start of the trial of three Americans charged with spying on Iran has been postponed because one of them has not been summoned to return to the country to appear in court, Iran's judiciary spokesman said Monday.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley urged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd) to send American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer home. In a tweet sent Thursday on Ahmadinejad's birthday, Crowley said, "What a gift that would be."

A classified U.S. military document appears to lend credence to claims that Iran crossed the Iraqi border to arrest three American hikers.

An American woman released from Iran after more than 13 months in custody has begun her trip back to the United States after thanking Oman for helping to mediate with Tehran.

An American woman released from Iran after more than 13 months in custody began her journey back to the United States on Saturday after asking her supporters to "extend your prayers" to her fiance and another American man who remain in Tehran accused of spying.

Iran has canceled the planned release of a detained American woman because the legal process has not been completed, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted as saying on Friday.