Iran today freed two US men it jailed for over two years on espionage charges after $500,000 (€366,000) bail for each was paid by Oman, Reuters witnesses and diplomatic sources said.
Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, who were arrested while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border in 2009 and denied being spies, left for Tehran's airport in a convoy escorted by Omani officials and including the ambassador of Switzerland, witnesses said.
The official news agency IRNA then said the two had flown out of the country, only to retract the report, with their lawyer denying they had already departed.
"They have not left Iran yet . . . We are still waiting at the airport for them to fly out of Iran," Masoud Shafie told Reuters at Mehrabad Airport.
IRNA said Mr Fattal and Mr Bauer expected to go first to Oman, a Gulf Arab kingdom whose officials helped secure their freedom.
Their release was flagged last week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying it would be a "humanitarian" gesture ahead of his annual trip to the United Nations in New York, but their fate remained uncertain until the last minute.
Trying to divert attention from his fading standing in the Islamic Republic, Mr Ahmadinejad told US media last week the two US citizens recently sentenced to eight years in prison for alleged espionage would be let go "in a couple of days".
But Iran's judiciary, controlled by rival conservative hardliners, immediately and publicly humiliated Mr Ahmadinejad by ruling out any imminent release of the two men, highlighting the president's deepening credibility deficit.
They were arrested on July 31st, 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq along with a third American, Sarah Shourd. The trio, in their late 20s and early 30s, said they were only on a hiking holiday at the time.
The two men were sentenced to eight years in prison last month. Shourd was released on $500,000 bail in September last year and allowed to fly home.
Analysts said Mr Ahmadinejad's announcement was an attempt to improve his international standing ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting that starts today.
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani helped to mediate the pending release of Mr Fattal and Mr Bauer, according to Iraqi officials.
The US government denies that the three Americans were spies, and their supporters complain that no evidence against them has been made public. Their trial was held behind closed doors.
Reuters