American inmates freed

Lawyer of the two US nationals who have been held in Iran on spying charges after they illegally crossed Iran's border with Iraq in 2009 announced that the judicial order for the release of the two US nationals has been issued. "An hour ago, the judge of Branch 36 of the Court of Revision issued the decree for the release of these two Americans on $500,000 bail," Massoud Shafi'ee said. "These two individuals will be released to the Swiss embassy in Tehran (which hosts the US interest section) at 3pm local time (10:30GMT)," he added. Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested in July 2009 after illegally crossing the border into Iran from the mountains of Northern Iraq's Kurdistan region, which hosts the main hideouts of the anti-Iran terrorist group, PJAK, as well as the PKK which is in war with Turkey. They were later charged with espionage after Tehran prosecutor's office announced that it possessed "compelling evidence" indicating that the three Americans were cooperating with US intelligence agencies. Iran released Shourd on a bail of $500,000 in September 2010, 14 months after her arrest. The decision was taken due to the detainee's health condition. In August 2010, the three American nationals were sentenced to eight years of imprisonment by an Iranian court. They were sentenced to three years for illegally entering the country and five years for spying. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview with the NBC last week that the three would be release on bail. But, Iran's Judiciary rejected the later media reports saying that the two American nationals would be released imminently. The Public Relations Department of Iran's Judiciary announced on Wednesday that it is still examining pleas by lawyers of the two defendants for their release on bail.