Bauer, Fattal Freed

Two US Citizens Leaving Tehran for Muscat

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were freed today and left Tehran’s Evin prison in custody of the Swiss and Omani Ambassadors in Tehran. They are on their way to the airport to board a private jet sent by the Sultan of Oman taking them to Muscat.

Bauer and Fattal had been convicted on charges of espionage and illegal entry into Iran and were sentenced last month to eight years in prison. They maintained their innocence throughout their detention, saying they were hiking in the mountainous Kurdish area of Iraq when inadvertently crossed the unmarked border with Iran.

Bauer, 28, and Fattal, 29, were arrested on 31 July 2009, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd. She was allowed home on bail in September 2010.

Iran Sentences Two Americans to Eight Years in Prison

Long Sentences After Indications the Two Would Be Freed in Ramadan

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal arrested more than two years ago while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border have been sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage and illegally entering Iran [IRIB, 20 August].

Earlier this month, Iran’s foreign minister had suggested that the two Americans would be sentenced to time served and would be freed during the holy month of Ramadan, cruelly raising hopes of their parents and friends and relatives in the US.

Bauer and Fattal deny the charges and say they were only hiking in a scenic and largely peaceful Kurdish region of Iraq, then mistakenly crossed into Iran when they stepped off a dirt road near a waterfall. They were detained in July 2009 along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was released in September 2010 on $500,000 bail and returned home.

The Iranian attorney of the two Americans, Masoud Shafiei, said he has not been notified of the verdict but he will definitely appeal the sentence if true.

“I've not been notified of any verdict in the case of my clients,” Shafiei told The Associated Press. "This is a strong verdict inconsistent with the charges."

The US said today it was trying to confirm an Iranian TV report that two were jailed for eight years and reiterated its call for their release.

“We have repeatedly called for the release of Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, who have now been held in Iran's Evin prison for two years. Shane and Josh have been imprisoned too long, and it is time to reunite them with their families,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Two Americans to Be Freed – Iran Ambassador

Iran's ambassador to Iraq Hassan Dannaie-Far has told the Associated Press in an interview that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the two American hikers held in Iran on espionage charges, will be released during Ramadan. The Islamic holy month began on Monday and ends on or about 29 August [AP, 4 August].

Bauer, Fattal and a third American, Sarah Shourd, were arrested in July 2009 after they said they mistakenly crossed into Iran while hiking in Iraq. Shourd was released on bail last September.

Iran Puts Three Americans on Trial

An Iranian revolutionary court put three Americans on trial today on charges of “spying and illegally entering the country.” The Americans, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd, say they were on a hiking trip in the Iraqi Kurdistan and were arrested on the unmarked border between the two countries by the Iranian authorities on 31 July 2009.

The trial is being held behind closed doors and the Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Livia Leu Agosti who represents US interests in Iran was barred from attending the proceedings.

"I was not invited to the court and it was my decision to come. So far the authorities have not allowed me in," Agosti told the Iranian news agency IRNA [6 February 2011].

Bauer and Fattal are in custody in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Shourd is in the US on bail since last September. The Swiss ambassador confirmed today that Shourd was not attending the trial.

Yesterday, their Iranian lawyer, Masoud Shafii, denied the charges against them and said he had been denied access to Bauer and Fattal to work on their defense.

"I should have met with Shane and Josh to prepare the defense, but I was not allowed," Shafii said. "I have studied the case in full detail. The question of spying is irrelevant. There is just the question of illegal entry, which even if it has happened has been inadvertent as the border was unmarked," Shafii added [AFP, 5 February].

Sarah Shourd to be Released – Prosecutor

The Tehran prosecutor today reversed course and announced that Sarah Shourd will be released on bail. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi had earlier cancelled a scheduled release of Ms. Shourd, and today criticized the government for interfering with the Judiciary in the case of the three detained American hikers.

Sarah Shourd, 32, Shane Michael Bauer and Joshua Felix Fattal, both 28, were arrested in July 2009 after apparently crossing the Iranian border in the mountainous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. The prosecutor identified Ms. Shourd’s illness as the reason for her release.

Iran to Release Sarah Shourd, One of Three American Hikers - UPDATES

The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced in Tehran that one of the three American hikers arrested near the Iraqi Kurdistan border in July 2009, would be released on Saturday. According to reports by various news agencies, the Iranian Mission to the UN has identified the American to be freed as Sarah Shourd.

Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd are being held in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison.

UPDATE: Tehran's Prosecutor General has told Iranian news agency ILNA that the Judiciary will NOT release Ms. Shourd on Saturday. Abbas Jaffari Doulatabadi, the prosecutor, said, "the judiciary dossier of the accused is not yet complete." Sarah Shourd was to be released on Saturday morning local time during a ceremony attended by senior officials of the Islamic Republic. The senior leaders in Iran have not confirmed or denied Tehran prosecutor's assertion that Ms. Shourd would not be released as planned.

UPDATE II: Iran’s official news agency IRNA has confirmed the reports that Sarah Shourd’s release has been called off. The cruel handling of Sarah’s release again brings into question of who’s in charge in Iran.

Iran Lawmaker: The Three Americans Came as Spies

Shane Bauer, one of the three Americans detained by the Iranians, shown
on a screen grab of his website "about" section. He introduces himself as

a freelance journalist and photographer based in the Middle East

The three Americans crossed the boder near Iranian town of Marivan

Dokan Resort, Iraqi Kurdistan
The three Americans were last seen in the resort before hiking in the region

The chairman of National Security Committee of Majlis (Iranian parliament) Mohammad Karim Abedi told Iran’s state-run Arabic television Al-Alam today that the authorities are deciding whether the three Americans arrested in Iran last Friday will be accused of spying. The authorities had earlier confirmed the arrests. Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal, all UC Berkley graduates, strayed across Malakh-Khor border from Iraq near the Iranian town of Marivan while hiking in the region and were surrendered and detained by Iran’s border police.

Abedi told Al-Alam that he personally believed the three came as spies but authorities are still deciding whether there is proof to bring legal action against them.

Three Americans Detained in Iran

The region southest of Sulaimaniyah on Iranian border
near Iranian town of Marivan
(Google Earth)

Kurdish mountainous region near Sulaimaniyah

A Scene from Ahmed Awa
Three American hikers were detained after crossing Iranian border across Ahmed Awa


Iran has arrested three Americans hikers who crossed the border with Iraq at the picturesque Ahmed Awa, about 90 km (55 miles) southeast of Sulaimaniyah in autonomous Kurdistan region. The three are believed to be held in the local border police station.

Beshro Ahmed, media adviser for the Kurdish region, told reporters today that the two men and a woman, Shane Bauer, Sara Shroud and Joshua Fattal, had entered from Turkey earlier along with a fourth American, Shaun Gabriel Maxwell, who did not join the trek because he was ill.

"On Thursday, three of them went to the summer resort at Ahmed Awa," Ahmed said [AFP, 1 August].

Ahmed Awa is a cool and heavily-forested area. The mountainous region has several youth hostels, one of which the three American tourists stayed at. The nearby border with Iran is not clearly marked.

The group was in contact with their companion in Sulaimaniya until about 1:30 p.m. Friday, when they reported they were “surrounded by Iranian soldiers,” an official told CNN. After that, no further communication was received [CNN, 1 August].

MSNBC Report on the Incident