Iran may release two US citizens detained on charges of espionage, their lawyer said, a day before a scheduled court session for the pair coinciding with the second anniversary of their detention.
Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 on suspicion of spying after crossing into Iran from Iraq.
Ms Shourd was freed on bail in September 2010 and returned to the US.
Under Iranian law, espionage can be punished by execution.
‘Tomorrow it will be two years since my clients were jailed ... I believe their already two years in detention will serve as their sentence,’ Masoud Shafiee said. ‘I hope it will be their last court session.’
In November, Iran's judiciary announced espionage charges against the three. Their families said they were hiking and had strayed across the border accidentally. Washington says the charges are totally unfounded and they should be released.
The last hearing was scheduled for 11 May but was postponed without any explanation.
Iranian authorities had previously called on Ms Shourd to return to Tehran to stand trial alongside Mr Fattal and Mr Bauer.
Asked whether Ms Shourd would appear at the session, Mr Shafiee said the court had not demanded that she should attend.
Both Bauer and Fattal pleaded not guilty at a closed-door court hearing on 6 February but the lawyer said he had had no recent legal access to his clients.
Some Iranian officials and newspapers had suggested that the
Americans may be swapped with jailed Iranians in the United States.
But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there were no talks between the United States and Iran on a prisoner exchange.
Iran said in 2009 it believed 11 Iranians were being held in the United States.
