Iran court says it is considering bail for American hikers

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- The Iranian Judiciary said it is considering a request for setting bail in the case of two American hikers accused of spying.

The report, posted on Iran's Judiciary website, seemed to contradict a statement by the hikers' lawyer that bail was already set in the case.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer will be released from Tehran's Evin prison after a $500,000 bail is paid for each of them, their attorney, Masoud Shafiee, said Tuesday.

The judiciary report puts into question whether or when the hikers will be released from prison.
"The two U.S. nationals accused of spying have not been released and their attorneys' requests for setting bail is being considered," the court statement said.

"The case is currently being considered by the presiding judge and any related news will be given by the judiciary. No other source is entitled to provide news about this case."

The court's statement also seems to differ with what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC on Tuesday.

Ahmadinejad said the hikers could be released "in a couple of days."
"OK, these two persons will be released," Ahmadinejad said. "Is it going to be over? We do it, for example, in (a) humanitarian gesture. Is it going to solve the problems? I hope so."

Fattal, Bauer and a third hiker, Sarah Shourd, were seized on July 31, 2009, after apparently straying across an unmarked border between Iraq and Iran. Iranian authorities arrested them, claiming they were spies and had entered the country illegally.

Shourd, who is now Bauer's fiancee, was released last year for medical reasons, although authorities said her case remains open.