Hikers Leave Iran for Good

Destination: Oman, where they will be met by their families
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 21, 2011 1:29 PM CDT
Hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer Leave Iran for Good
In this photo taken in July 2011, US hikers Shane Bauer, right, and Josh Fattal, walk in a park in northern Tehran, during custody in Iran.   (AP Photo/Press TV)

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer are officially no longer on Iranian soil. The American hikers have departed on a flight from Tehran to Oman, a Swiss diplomat tells CNN. Their destination is the Omani capital of Muscat, where they will be met by their families, along with fellow hiker/Bauer's fiancee, Sarah Shourd. That country's envoy to Iran says the men will stay in Muscat for a few days "before heading home."

And from the men's families, joy: "Today can only be described as the best day of our lives," they said in a statement. "We have waited for nearly 26 months for this moment and the joy and relief we feel at Shane and Josh's long-awaited freedom knows no bounds. We now all want nothing more than to wrap Shane and Josh in our arms, catch up on two lost years and make a new beginning, for them and for all of us." (More Josh Fattal stories.)

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