Two Americans released from an Iranian prison have landed in New York after being held for more than two years on accusations of spying.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York City at about 11:00AM.

The two were released from prison last week. They arrived Wednesday in Oman under a $1 million bail deal and were embraced by relatives. Also on hand was Sarah Shourd, their fellow hiker who was freed last year.

Before boarding the plane in the Omani capital of Muscat on Saturday night, the men made brief statements and thanked Oman’s ruler for helping secure their release.

“We hope to someday return to this wonderful country, but for now we are eager to go home at last,” Fattal told reporters.

Bauer said he won’t forget the feeling of seeing their loved ones waiting for them in Oman.

“The joy of embracing them all after so long will stay with us forever,” he said.
The three were detained in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border. They say they were only hiking in Iraq’s relatively peaceful Kurdish region.

Since her release last year, Shourd has lived in Oakland, California. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minnesota, and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from a Philadelphia suburb.

(Source: WSJ)