Iran: Court To Commute Sentences For 2 Americans
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that the courts are willing in “the near future” to commute the prison sentences for two Americans convicted of spying. The Americans’ lawyer, meanwhile, was in court trying to arrange a $1 million bail-for-freedom deal.
The release rests in the hands of the hard-line judiciary, and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi gave no clear timetable. He also raised the issue of Iranians held in U.S. prisons, suggesting the Americans’ release might be drawn out to bring attention to inmates Iran wants freed.
Salehi said at a news conference that Iran’s judiciary was ready to commute the sentences as a gesture of Islamic mercy. But he did not give any clearer indication of when they could be released.
The first word of the bail offer for Bauer and Fattal came earlier in the week from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He said the Americans could be freed in a matter of days. But Iran’s powerful judiciary then responded that the bail provisions were still under review.
The mixed signals could reflect the bitter internal political feuds inside Iran between Ahmadinejad and the country’s ruling clerics, who control the courts. Ahmadinejad and his allies are accused of trying to challenge the power of Iran’s Islamic establishment.
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