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.”
In months, Lo Yuet-ping would bid farewell to a centuries-old village he has called home in Hong Kong for more than seven decades. The Cha Kwo Ling village in east Kowloon is filled with small houses built from metal sheets and stones, as well as old granite buildings, contrasting sharply with the high-rise structures that dominate much of the Asian financial hub. Lo, 72, has spent his entire life here and is among an estimated 860 households required to move under a government redevelopment plan. He said he would miss the rich history, unique culture and warm interpersonal kindness that defined life in
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
RSS