Families raising bail to free U.S. hikers

TEHRAN, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Parents of two U.S. hikers held in a Tehran prison are working to raise bail to secure their children's release soon, the hikers' attorney said Tuesday.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer will be released from Tehran's Evin prison after the $500,000 bail is paid for each of them, attorney Masoud Shafiee told CNN.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told several U.S. media outlets the two men would be released "in a couple of days" for humanitarian reasons.

Fattal and Bauer have been in Evin Prison for more than two years after they and a third hiker, Sarah Shourd, were arrested July 31, 2009, while hiking in northern Iraq. The three said they unintentionally strayed across an unmarked border into Iran, where they were arrested and charged with espionage and entering the country illegally.

Shourd, who is Bauer's fiancee, was released last year on $500,000 bail for medical reasons, although authorities said her case is open.

Fattal and Bauer in August were convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage and illegal entry.

"They illegally crossed our borders and they were arrested by the border guards," Ahmadinejad told NBC in an interview that aired Tuesday. "We tried last year to free one of the three persons and we are also trying to make arrangements for the freedom of the other two. I think these two persons will be freed in a couple of days."

The hikers' families were "hopeful" about the possible release, a family spokeswoman said.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "We are aware of these reports, and we are working through the Swiss Protecting Power to get more details from the Iranian authorities."

Since United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, the Swiss represent U.S. interests in Tehran.

Senior State Department officials said U.S. officials reacted with caution to the news because Iran had made similar claims previously, CNN said.

In the NBC interview, Ahmadinejad indicated the situation was bigger than Bauer and Fattal, extending to the "approach of the American politicians and leaders" toward Iran.

"OK, these two persons will be released," he said. "Is it going to be over? We do it, for example, in [a] humanitarian gesture. Is it going to solve the problems? I hope so."

The president's decisions are subject to review by clerical authorities in Iran, but Ahmadinejad called his intention a "unilateral pardon" of the hikers, The Washington Post reported.

Bauer and Fattal are "free to choose" how they return to the United States, Ahmadinejad told the Post.