Oman
helped secure the Sept. 14 release of a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was
arrested along with the men, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, near the Iran-Iraq
border in July 2009. Shourd denies Iran's allegations and says the three were
just hiking through a scenic area of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region during a
vacation.
Her
release raised hopes that Oman — an ally of both the United States and Tehran —
could help secure the two men's freedom as well. An Iranian newspaper reported
over the weekend that Omani officials were expected to visit Iran as early as
Sunday and hoped to take the detainees home with them.
In
Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley gave the first official
confirmation that such a visit was taking place.
Crowley
said the State Department has received no word of any progress in the Omanis'
discussions with Iranian officials, but he said the US appreciates Oman's
efforts.
“The
Omanis pledged to continue to help with the release of the two hikers and we're
very grateful for their efforts,” Crowley told reporters. “For the details I'll
defer to the Omani government.” Earlier Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry
spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, hinted that the visit might be taking place, but
did not outright confirm it.
Asked
about the weekend newspaper report, Mehmanparast said only that “delegations
from various countries travel to Iran” and vice versa.
Mehmanparast
also said the two men's cases were still under investigation by Iran's hard-line
judiciary.
Omani
officials have not confirmed the delegation's visit.
Shourd's
release, which the Iranians said was on compassionate grounds because of
illness, was a bittersweet milestone in a saga that has become one of many
irritants in fraught US-Iranian relations. She left behind her fiancé, Bauer,
and their friend Fattal — both 28 — to possibly face trial on espionage
charges.
Shourd,
32, was released after officials in Oman mediated a $500,000 bail that
satisfied Iranian authorities and apparently did not violate US economic sanctions
against Tehran. The source of the bail payment has not been disclosed.
Last
week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Shourd while in New York
to attend the UN General Assembly. He told The Associated Press that he hopes
Bauer and Fattal will be able to provide evidence “they had no ill intention in
crossing the border” so they can be released but that would be up to the
judiciary.
Shourd
and the families of the three Americans say they never intended to cross the
border and that if they did, it was by accident.
Shourd
grew up in Los Angeles, Bauer is a native of Minnesota and Fattal grew up in
Pennsylvania.
Shourd
and Bauer had been living together in Damascus, Syria, where Bauer was working
as a freelance journalist and Shourd as an English teacher. Fattal, an
environmental activist, went to visit them last July 2009 shortly before their
trip to northern Iraq.
