Report: Iran to free U.S. hikers

13 September 2011 | 17:57 Code : 16210 Latest Headlines

Cbsnews--Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says two American hikers who have been jailed in the country on charges of espionage for two years will be freed this week, according to NBC News, which was to air an interview with the Iranian leader Tuesday morning.

A Twitter message posted by NBC News in the early morning hours Tuesday - just minutes after one of the network's local affiliates tweeted the same - said Ahmadinejad made the unexpected revelation in an interview with Ann Curry.

Ahmadinejad reportedly tells the network that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, will be released "in two days".

CBS News is seeking independent confirmation of the pending release from officials in Tehran.

The two American men were arrested more than two years ago while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border, and were sentenced to eight years in prison in August for espionage and illegally entering Iran.

The announcement of their prison sentences appeared to dash hopes for the imminent release of Bauer and Fattal, even after Iran's foreign minister suggested earlier in August that the trial could clear the way for their freedom.

The two men were detained in July 2009 along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was released in September 2010 on $500,000 bail and returned to the United States. Shourd's case is officially still open in Iran, but she has campaigned vigorously for her friends' release since returning to the U.S.