Photo: #In this photo released by the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, US hikers Shane Bauer, right, and Josh Fattal, smile, at the Tehran's Mehrabad airport before leaving Iran. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release.
Photo: #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. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release.
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In this photo released by the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, US hikers Shane Bauer, right, and Josh Fattal, smile, at the Tehran's Mehrabad airport before leaving Iran. Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release. (AP Photo/IRNA, Ehsan Nederipour)
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Timing of hikers' release is telling about power balance

by Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio
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The release of hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal was announced days ago by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but took until today to be completed by judiciary.

The timing of the release was a telling illustration of the balance of power between the Iranian judiciary and the president, said Professor William Beeman, chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota.

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