TEHRAN — An Iranian court Tuesday set bail of $500,000 each for two American men arrested more than two years ago and convicted on spy-related charges, clearing the way for their release a year after a similar bail-for-freedom arrangement for the third member of the group, their defense attorney said.
Lawyer Masoud Shafiei said the court would begin the process to free Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal after payment of the bail, which must be arranged through third parties because of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.
But the timing of the court’s decision is similar to last year’s bail deal mediated by Oman that freed the third American, Sarah Shourd.
“They accepted to set bail to release,” Mr. Shafiei told the Associated Press after leaving the court. “The amount is the same for Sarah.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in an interview aired on NBC’s “Today” show, predicted the Americans could be freed “in a couple of days.” He described the bail offer as a “humanitarian gesture” and repeated complaints about attention for Iranians held in U.S. prisons.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was “encouraged” by Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments.
The Americans were arrested in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border and accused by Iran of espionage. The trio have denied the charges and say they may have mistakenly crossed into Iran when they stepped off a dirt road while hiking near a waterfall in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
Last month, Mr. Bauer and Mr. Fattal, both 29, were sentenced to three years each for illegal entry into Iran and five years each for spying for the United States. They appealed the verdicts. Miss Shourd’s case remains open.
Mr. Shafiei said he has passed along details of the court’s decision to the Swiss Embassy, which represent U.S. interests in Iran since there are no diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said officials were in touch with Swiss envoys “to get more details from the Iranian authorities.”
Iran may have timed the court decision to coincide with Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit later this month to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Last year, Miss Shourd was released on bail just as Mr. Ahmadinejad was heading for the annual gathering of world leaders.
But Mr. Ahmadinejad was not likely involved closely in any decisions on the case. Iran’s judiciary is controlled by the country’s ruling clerics, who have been waging relentless pressure on Mr. Ahmadinejad and his allies as part of an internal power struggle.
The diplomatic pathways for possible bail payments were not immediately clear. Officials in Oman - which has close ties with the U.S. and Iran - did not immediately respond for comment on whether they could again offer assistance.
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