Iran Hikers Return: Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer Back In U.S. On Sunday, Spokeswoman Says

MUSCAT, Oman — Two Americans freed from an Iranian prison told reporters Saturday they were "eager to go home" just before boarding their flight to the U.S. from Oman, the Gulf state that helped mediate their release after more than two years in custody on accusations of spying.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were scheduled to arrive home on Sunday, according to Samantha Topping, a spokeswoman for their families. The two were released from Tehran's Evin prison under a $1 million bail deal and arrived in Oman on Wednesday in the first leg of their journey home. There they were reunited with joyful relatives.

Iran's Foreign Ministry called their release a gesture of Islamic mercy.

Before boarding the plane in the Omani capital Saturday night, the men made brief statements and thanked Oman's ruler for helping secure their release.

"We hope to someday return to this wonderful country, but for now we are eager to go home at last," Fattal said.

Sarah Shourd, who was arrested with the men along the Iran-Iraq border but released a year ago, was also in Oman and returning home with them and their families.

Bauer proposed marriage to Shourd while they were in jail.

The Americans denied the Iranian accusations and said they were just hiking in northern Iraq's scenic Kurdish region when they might have unknowingly crossed the unmarked border with Iran in July 2009.

Bauer told reporters Saturday that he won't forget the feeling of seeing their loved ones waiting for them in Oman.

"The joy of embracing them all after so long will stay with us forever," Bauer said.

The plane was due to depart shortly after their statements, but reporters were denied access to the airport runway to see the plane take off.

Comments

[jghantman]

03:15 PM on 09/27/2011

Where they were hiking has been named by National Geographic as one of the top ten most beautiful areas in the world to visit. So to anyone who is so unkind and cruel as to judge and condemn them as "stupid" or "what did they expect", may God do the same to you or your children someday. Jean Hantman

[mayacanogop]

05:32 PM on 09/26/2011

Censorship at its finest
CNN,MSNBC NBC,CBS,ABC refused to air the ungratefulness of these two Americans which their country went through great lengths to free them . The reason for this is they don't want the public to know how Metro White Liberals really feel .What was his quote for America to free their political prisoners. This is why Barrack will win his election thank you FoX for an honest uncensored account of their ungratefulness.

[GohBokhor]

02:58 PM on 09/26/2011

Oh please. Glad you're home, but you didn't get treated NEARLY as badly as what Israel and the US do to its national security prisoners.

Imagine if three bearded guys looking like Ahmadinejad were hiking the Canada/US border?

All else aside, a martian would look at these three and suspect them of being of Jewish origin. and yes, I'm saying the Iranian guard racially profiled.

[soodeeell]

06:18 PM on 09/26/2011

Note to those of you who say "There are XX,XXX happy Jews living in Iran". Here's Goh's take on where they stand, and Goh happens to be a supporter of Iran "a martian would look at these three and suspect them of being of Jewish origin. and yes, I'm saying the Iranian guard racially profiled."

[bookem7117]

08:42 AM on 09/26/2011

Who paid the "bail", I think it was probably us taxpayers. The airfare is not free either. It seems that they can't accept the blame, they were just being picked on. But of course, stupid is as stupid does..

[zenju2]

06:26 AM on 09/26/2011

Wouldn't it be nice to have another Progressive with teeth in the Oval Office, like Theodore Roosevelt? Tin-pot dictators and 'leaders' would think twice about holding US citizens hostage.
Curious...did anybody ever hold Soviet 'hostages'? How do you think Moscow would've reacted? I think Teheran would have been flattened within days had the mullahs tried to pull this little stunt in the old days.

[TeeSC]

09:27 PM on 09/26/2011

So you're saying that other countries... particularly those in the Middle East... have the right to flatten the US?  Because it's for dayam sure we have and ARE holding individuals without charge and subject to torture.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

02:12 AM on 09/26/2011

Obamy - ok - we, the taxpayer - paid for their release and now nobody will hire them, so Obamy -
ok, we the taxpayer - will pay for them to mooch as much as they can from the Feds, for as long as it takes to go broke, and Obamy says the GOP will bankrupt America - Say What ??? !!!

[TeeSC]

09:33 PM on 09/26/2011

Hold the rant... and show me where you pay squat for their release.  Show me proof where the US paid one red cent.  

Strangely enough, it was Bush who signed an amendment stating that the US WOULD consider paying ransom for kidnapping.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

01:58 AM on 09/27/2011

YGBFKM

[totalliberal]

11:12 PM on 09/25/2011

When they're all rested up they can go hiking in Somalia. Shaking my head in wonder at how people can be so dumb.

[Deparis]

02:10 PM on 09/26/2011

No they were very clever and smart, clever and smart spies, that is.

[PAIndy]

02:11 PM on 09/26/2011

It gives them the ability to act smug and superior at cocktail parties when someone asks, "Why not just go hiking in the Cascades".

[Leebossa]

09:53 PM on 09/25/2011

I think everyone agrees that it's just ridiculous that anyone just happens to go hiking in that area, but I really just think they were dumb, naive american 20somethings who think they're invincible and that the whole world has their best interests at heart. I think it's very likely they were political hostages and just stupid and reckless. However, am I the only one who thinks this Sarah Shourd is not very trustworthy person? There is something about her that I find kind of shifty and unstrustworthy, like she's kind of a passive aggressive attention hound. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who convinced them to join her on this folly and they both were just totally enamored of her. She's remained oddly silent but somehow, I have the feeling she'll be lapping up all the attention....just a feeling i get.

[totalliberal]

11:14 PM on 09/25/2011

Guaranteed.

[Elliot Klein]

08:57 PM on 09/25/2011

I truly doubt that they were innocent hikers who got lost. Who in their right mind would go hiking on the Iraq-Iran border? My guess is that they are some kind of missionaries looking to convert the heathens to their own form of lunacy. They are lucky to have gotten out of Iran alive. I've been there and it is not really a prime vacation spot.

[TeeSC]

09:34 PM on 09/26/2011

When were you there... and under what circumstances?  Just curious...

[onebluebrick]

08:31 PM on 09/25/2011

I hope they bought their opwn tickets. I do not want to. I would like to fly to Ireland. Will the US taxpayers buy my ticket?

[papasnow]

08:26 PM on 09/25/2011

Anyone of these three individuals could've picked anywhere else in this whole wide beautiful world to go hiking, but apparently they deliberately chose one of the most unstable places on the planet to get their kicks. I had no sympathy for any of the people when they were caught and locked up, and I have even less sympathy for them now. Apparently they got exactly what they wanted...attention.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

07:25 PM on 09/25/2011

Wonder if they will take the offer to hike at midnight thru Compton....Seems reasonable....too.

sarc

[Matt12]

07:19 PM on 09/25/2011

The gang that couldn't shoot straight is back. Aren't these guys repulsive?

[cue]

06:18 PM on 09/25/2011

Being unencumbered by legal training, I need someone to explain to me the difference in this situation between $1m "bail" which must be OK and $1m "ransom" which we hear is not OK.

Please enlighten me.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

07:15 PM on 09/25/2011

Law language. You need to google it. WAY too involved for a short answer.

[ArthroughpadNY]

03:30 PM on 09/25/2011

Does anyone really care? They did it to themselves. I hope they cancel their plans to eat at a restaurant in N. Korea, or do a tour of the Mexican Cartel Drug gangs. You can't fix stupid.