Iran hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer have safely arrived in Oman after being released from one of the most notorious prisons in Iran, CNN reports.
Fattal and Bauer were greeted in the city of Muscat by families and close friends, including Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, who was freed nearly one year ago on medical grounds.
Today can only be described as the best day of our lives ... we have waited for nearly 26 months for this moment and the joy and relief we feel at Shane and Josh's long-awaited freedom knows no bounds. We now all want nothing more than to wrap Shane and Josh in our arms, catch up on two lost years and make a new beginning, for them and for all of us, the families said in a statement obtained by CNN.
On July 31, 2009, Fattal, Bauer and Shourd were arrested on suspicion of spying on an unmarked border in Iran. Fattal and Bauer, both 29, were sentenced to eight years of prison just last month, before the country's revolutionary court agreed last week to release them on a bail of $500,000 each (the same bail that freed Shourd in 2010).
The hikers' lawyer, Masoud Shafiee, confirmed to CNN that the Omani government had paid the bail in full.
Back in the U.S., President Barack Obama said he was thrilled that the two men had been released, according to Reuters.
Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, American hikers, were released from prison in Iran, on bails of $500,000 each, in September. The two men, along with Sarah Shourd, were detained near the Iran-Iraq border, in July, 2009. While Shourd was released 14 months later, Fattal and Bauer were convicted of illegal entry and espionage and sentenced to eight years each. Their families insisted that the trio were simply on a mountain hike in northern Iraq at the time. The U.S. government said the spying allegations were unfounded.ReutersShane Bauer (C) , one of the U.S. hikers who was held in Iran on charges of espionage, hugs fiance Sarah Shourd (R) upon his arrival in Muscat after his release from Tehran's Evin prison, September 21, 2011. Three hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 near the unmarked border with Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq. Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after 410 days in solitary confinement.REUTERSShane Bauer (L) , one of the U.S. hikers who was held in Iran on charges of espionage, hugs fiance Sarah Shourd (2nd L) upon his arrival in Muscat after his release from Tehran's Evin prison, September 21, 2011. Three hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 near the unmarked border with Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq. Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after 410 days in solitary confinement.REUTERSShane Bauer(2nd L) and Josh Fattal (2nd R), U.S. hikers who were held in Iran on charges of espionage, give a statement upon their arrival in Muscat after their release from Tehran's Evin prison, September 21, 2011. Three hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 near the unmarked border with Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq. Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after 410 days in solitary confinement.REUTERSJosh Fattal (C), one of the U.S. hikers who was held in Iran on charges of espionage, hugs his brother Alex upon his arrival in Muscat after the release from Tehran's Evin prison, September 21, 2011. Three hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 near the unmarked border with Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq. Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after 410 days in solitary confinement.REUTERSShane Bauer (R) and Josh Fattal (L), U.S. hikers who were held in Iran on charges of espionage, arrive in Muscat after their release from Tehran's Evin prison, September 21, 2011. Three hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 near the unmarked border with Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq. Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after 410 days in solitary confinement.REUTERSJosh Fattal (L), one of the U.S. hikers who was held in Iran on charges of espionage, is surrounded by his family, upon his arrival in Muscat after he was released with Shane Bauer from Tehran's Evin prison, September 21, 2011. Three hikers, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 near the unmarked border with Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq. Bauer's fiance Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 after 410 days in solitary confinement.REUTERS
