Two US hikers jailed by Iran for spying and illegal entry arrived in Oman on their way home on Wednesday after Tehran released them on bail, months after handing them hefty jail terms.
Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, both 29, were flown into Muscat on an Omani Royal Air Force plane that landed at the private airport of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
US President Barack Obama hailed the release, telling reporters in New York: “We are thrilled,”
Photo: AFP
Their families said in a joint statement that it was “the best day of our lives.”
The pair was released earlier on Wednesday from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, after more than two years in jail for spying and illegal entry into Iran, after the Gulf sultanate of Oman paid their bail.
Their case poisoned already difficult relations between Tehran and Washington and the release came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in New York for the UN General Assembly.
The pair spent more than half an hour at an airport hall with their families and US embassy members, before addressing reporters briefly and then they were whisked off to an unknown destination.
“We are so happy that we are free now,” Fattal said, thanking bin Said and Oman for hosting them and their families.
“Two years in prison is too long. We sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners in America and Iran,” Bauer said.
They left in a convoy of five US embassy cars and 12 Omani police vehicles as airport officials declined to disclose any information on where they were heading.
Bauer’s mother and father were in Oman to welcome him, along with his two sisters, and Fattal’s father, mother and brother.
Wearing light-colored shirts and black trousers, Fattal and Bauer ran down the steps of the plane smiling and shouting happily as they hugged their parents and took photographs with them.
“They are healthy, happy and strong,” Fattal’s father said.
The sultan’s envoy to Iran who mediated for their release, Salim al-Ismaili, arrived with them on the same plane.
“After all the effort I’ve exerted, I’m going to need a one-year vacation,” he told reporters.
A message by the families thanked bin Said, his envoy, Iranian lawyer Masoud Shafii and the Swiss ambassador to Iran “for working to make today a reality.”
“We have waited for nearly 26 months for this moment,” said the statement, which was also signed by fellow hiker Sarah Shourd, Bauer’s fiancee, who was released last year. “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.”
Obama called the release “wonderful news” and said: “I could not feel better for their families and those moms who we have been in close contact with, its a wonderful day for them and for us.”
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