To start off with a bit of background, three people by the names of  Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were spending what they hoped would be a relaxing weeks’ vacation in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which is located dangerously close to the Iranian border Somehow they managed to stumble into Iranian territory. Iranian authorities found them, and they were jailed as US spies. While Sarah Shourd was lucky enough to have gotten out last year, Bauer and Fatal remained in prison until just last week.

Once they were finally released, Bauer and Fatal had a few statements to make to the world. They claimed that they may have accidentally stumbled into Iranian territory, but the Iranians had no grounds to arrest them. Bauer explained that “no evidence was presented against [them] because there was no evidence and [they] were completely innocent.” The only reason this happed , Bauer said, was because of “32 years of mutual hostilities between America and Iran.”

While spending years in prison, they lived in what Fattal called “a world of lies and false hopes.” They were allowed a short visit from their mothers, fifteen minutes of phone calls, and a few letters from family members before being told their families had stopped writing, despite the fact they had not. While Shourd was still there with them, she and Bauer were engaged.

As Bauer and Fattal return to the USA once again, they are happily looking towards the future. Bauer said “we want more than anything to begin our lives anew and with a new appreciation for the sweet taste of freedom.”