Iran Latest: Ahmadinejad "Unilateral Pardon" for US Hikers Bauer & Fattal in 48 Hours

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Ahmadinejad tells US NBC News that American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer to be freed in 48 hours

---

1250 GMT: Ahmadinejad, who is due to speak at the United Nations later this month, told The Washington Post that he was issuing a "unilateral pardon" of Fattal and Bauer, arrested in July 2009 while hiking on the Iran-Iraq border, as a "humanitarian gesture".

Masoud Shafiee, the lawyer for Bauer and Fattal, said bail for the two men had been set at $500,000 each.

Ahmadinejad had wanted to released Bauer and Fattal last September when a third American, Sarah Shourd, was freed, also on $500,000. However, the Iranian judiciary objected to the release of the two men, as well as Ahmadinejad's planned elaborate ceremony. In the end, Shourd was released with little fanfare.

Bauer and Fattal were sentenced this summer to eight years in prison. Shourd refused to return for the trial.

0950 GMT: It looks like President Ahmadinejad is using his interview with America's NBC News to make a high-profile political move in advance of his trip to the United Nations later this month.

NBC says it was told by Ahmadinejad that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the US hikers detained in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years in prison on espionage charges will be freed in two days.

NBC posted the claim in a Twitter message. The interview will air later Tuesday on the Today show.