Two U.S. men convicted of spying leave Iran (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Two U.S. hikers convicted of spying flew out of Iran on Wednesday, having been released from an Iranian jail after two years, the Swiss ambassador said.

“They are leaving right now and I’m very very grateful for this,” ambassador Livia Leu Agosti, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, told reporters.

“It has been a very long time for them and we have done a lot of work and I’m very thankful for all those who have helped, in particularly the Omanis, of course. They were OK, so I was very happy to see them,” she added.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal had been in Iranian custody since their arrest in July 2009 on the border with Iraq, where they said they were hiking. They were jailed for espionage.

(Reporting by Sanam Shantyaei; Writing by Zahra Hosseinian)

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