Judiciary Official: Iran to announce verdict on US spies

The verdict on the three Americans facing charges of illegal entry into Iran and espionage will soon be delivered, Iran's Judiciary Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said, Press TV reported with reference to IRIB.

"The final verdict on the three American defendants will be announced soon," Mohseni-Ejei said during a press conference in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Monday.

When asked whether there was a possibility of pardoning the three during the Muslims' fasting month of Ramadan, Mohseni-Ejei said he had not heard about such a rumor.

Shane Michael Bauer, Joshua Felix Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were arrested on July 31, 2009, after illegally crossing the Iranian border from Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi later pressed espionage charges against the three, saying he had found "compelling evidence" that the three had been cooperating with US intelligence agencies.

The trial of the Americans ended on July 31. The last court session in the case was held behind closed doors without the presence of 32-year-old Shourd.

According to the attorney of the suspected spies, Masoud Shafiee, Shourd has not responded to court summons to return and stand trial.

Shourd is being tried in absentia after she returned to the United States following her release on humanitarian and medical grounds in September 2010, for which bail of about 500,000 dollars was paid.


/Trend/