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NEW YORK ? Two American hikers held for years in an Iranian prison came home Sunday, declaring that they were detained because of their nationality, not because they might have crossed the border from Iraq. Joshua ...
Submit this storydigg reddit stumble NEW YORK ? Two American hikers held for years in an Iranian prison came home Sunday, declaring that they were detained because of their nationality, not because they might have crossed the border from Iraq.
Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived in New York on Sunday morning, ending their diplomatic and personal ordeal with a sharp rebuke of the country that sentenced each to eight years in jail for espionage and illegally walking into Iran. They say they may never know if they actually stepped across the border while hiking and getting lost.
"From the very start, the only reason we have been held hostage is because we are American," Fattal said at a news conference at a Manhattan hotel. "Iran has always tied our case to its political disputes with the U.S."
The two 29-year-olds were freed last week under a $1 million bail deal and arrived Wednesday in Oman, greeted by relatives and fellow hiker Sarah Shourd, who was released last year.
The men's saga began in July 2009 with what they called a wrong turn into the wrong country. The three say they were hiking together in Iraq's relatively peaceful Kurdish region along the Iran-Iraq border when Iranian guards detained them. They always maintained their innocence, saying they might have accidentally wandered into Iran.
The two men were convicted of spying last month. Shourd, to whom Bauer proposed marriage while they were imprisoned, was charged but freed last year before any trial.
"There's a huge burden lifted off of all of our chests ? so much joy," she said. "Shane and Josh and I are beginning our lives again, and there are so many new joys that await us; I've never felt as free as I feel today."
But her face darkened when she was asked whether the men had been mistreated in captivity. She said Bauer was beaten and Fattal forced down a flight of stairs.
Fattal said he wanted to make clear that while he and Bauer "applaud Iranian authorities for finally making the right decision," they "do not deserve undue credit for ending what they had no right and no justification to start in the first place."
The two countries severed diplomatic ties three decades ago during the hostage crisis. Since then, both have tried to limit the other's influence in the Middle East, and the United States and other Western nations see Iran as the greatest nuclear threat in the region.
The hikers' detention, Bauer said, was "never about crossing the unmarked border between Iran and Iraq. We were held because of our nationality."
"Many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them," Fattal said.
Added Bauer: "How can we forgive the Iranian government when it continues to imprison so many other innocent people and prisoners of conscience?"
They said their phone calls with family members amounted to a total of 15 minutes in two years, and they had to go on repeated hunger strikes to receive letters. Eventually, they were told ? falsely ? that their families had stopped writing them letters.
They kept in shape physically and mentally by lifting water bottles, discussing books and asking each other questions, family members said. And they ripped slivers of cloth from prison blindfolds to secure their footwear so they could run for exercise.
The two managed to hold on to reality by reading letters from family members that included news of what was happening in the world, Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey, told The Associated Press.
On Wednesday, he said, they had just finished their brief daily open-air exercise and expected, as on other days, to be blindfolded and led back to their 8- by-13-foot cell.
Instead, the prison guards took them downstairs, fingerprinted them and gave them civilian clothes. They weren't told where they were going.
Shourd was with the families to greet the two on the tarmac at a royal airfield near the airport in Oman's capital, Muscat. At about 20 minutes before midnight Wednesday, Fattal and Bauer, wearing jeans and casual shirts, bounded down the steps from the blue-and-white plane. The men appeared very thin and pale, but in good health.
The first hint of change in the case came last week when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Fattal and Bauer could be released within days. But wrangling from within the country's leadership delayed efforts. Finally, Iranian defense attorney Masoud Shafiei secured the necessary judicial approval Wednesday for the bail ? $500,000 for each man.
Until their release, the last direct contact family members had with Bauer and Fattal was in May 2010, when their mothers were permitted a short visit in Tehran, which Iranian officials used for high-profile propaganda.
Since her release, Shourd has lived in Oakland, Calif. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minn., and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from Elkins Park, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb.
On Sunday, the men's families told reporters that they hadn't made plans for what they would do next ? except for carving out some private time together. They would not say where they were sleeping on Sunday night.
NEW YORK — Two American hikers held for years in an Iranian prison came home Sunday, declaring that they were detained because of their nationality, not because they might have crossed the borde...
NEW YORK — Two American hikers held for years in an Iranian prison came home Sunday, declaring that they were detained because of their nationality, not because they might have crossed the borde...
Once again, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has used the United Nations podium to churn out his misinformation and half-truths. And once again, the American media accepted his invitation for a fancy luncheon afterwards.
TheWorldNews Hikers freed by Iran return to US: Two Americans return home after spending more than two years in an Iranian ja... http://t.
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rshief Hikers freed by Iran return to US: Two Americans return home after spending more than two years in an Iranian jail on http://t.
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23 minutes ago (7:23 PM) Let's see, hiking near the Iranian border. Momma said, "If I play near the fire long enough, I'm going to get burned". One doesn't have to be a soothsayer or hold a degree from Cal. Berkley to predict certain outcomes. Obviously, neither majored in "International Relations". I wonder if it is offered at Cal. Berkley? LOL!!! They must have been hiking and skipped that class.
2 hours ago (5:38 PM) Im still not sure these guys werent actauly spies seems a bit on the fishy side. There is def more to this story than we are getting.
2 hours ago (5:20 PM) Glad they are home. But I can think of alot better places to hike than Iraq. Probably spoiled by their parents most of their life.
3 hours ago (4:24 PM) Apparently Shane lived in Damascus with Sarah. If they hate America so much, why didn't they ask to be returned to Damascus?
All well and good, except the next trio of Americans who set off for a week hiking on the Iranian border and get caught will be held even longer, or probably for ever.
Surely there is one, or maybe two safer places on this planet to go hiking than in a warzone, on the border with a country that displays viscious hostility towards America?
2 hours ago (5:46 PM) For whatever reason, they did it purposefully. Two of them were living in Syria before. They were in sympathy with Iran over how the U.S. treated Iran. Even though the nation of Iran is lef by an islamic extremist group who hates America. And, it's leader is also suspected of being a part of the kidnapping of Americans back in 79.
4 hours ago (4:01 PM) Wow, some of the comments here make me begin to realize why there is so much hate and discontenet in this country. If it was anyone of you and someone posted your bail of $500,000 you would not turn it down no matter who it came from! Think about it, these boys were held for false charges and this "bail" was really a ransome. There are more just like them in the jail and no one is there to pay their ransome. I am very happy that they are finally home and for once just show some good kind human emotions, for once. Shame on all of you haters, one day it could be your family member in that same position and you will be screaming for their release.
5 hours ago (3:15 PM) Oman posted bail. It's probably so that US will continue to have 3 airforce bases in their country and give US $$$ to their government in exchange for them.
4 hours ago (3:27 PM) Great, those idiots were released with money from one of the dictators the US supports in the mideast. They said thank you Mr. Dictator. They are smart enough not to express an opinion on the person who wasted money on their release.
5 hours ago (3:03 PM) We have hundreds of beautiful places to hike in this country. There is something else going on here. Perhaps we will find out in the book or the movie that is eventually, surely coming.
5 hours ago (2:56 PM) If your young and dumb and have a cause you want to get media exposure over then do something like this, expect to get caught, and the country will feel sorry and listen to you and it appears their message is opposition to our handling of affairs with Iran. Someone is out millions of dollars but Mission accomplished.
5 hours ago (2:42 PM) Bunch of do-gooders over there where they had no business. No one has asked them what they were doing in Iran. Why they were over there if they aren't in the military.
5 hours ago (2:37 PM) The irony of it all, Bauer said, "is that Sarah, Josh and I oppose U.S. policies towards Iran which perpetuate this hostility."..................................................................................Bauer then stated he was currently scanning expedia.com for the best deals for 10 day walking tours through North Korea.........
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