The lawyer for two U.S. citizen detained in Iran says all signs point to their imminent release.
Massoud Shafii told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today that he is "very hopeful" that Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer will soon be released, barring "an unexpected event."
He added that the court was supposed to issue its verdict within a week of the final trial session on August 1, and he was told yesterday to await the call.
Following that trial session, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he was hopeful for the release of Fattal and Bauer.
In addition, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq told the Associated Press that he expects the two Americans will be released during the holy month of Ramadan.
Bauer, Fattal and another American, Sarah Shourd, were arrested in the border regions of Iran and Iraq in July 2009 for entering Iran illegally.
Iranian authorities accused them of espionage, but their families insisted they had strayed into Iran inadvertently.
Shourd was released last September on $500,000 bail for medical reasons.
