Iranian Foreign Ministry rebuffed claims by two US nationals who were recently released on bail of being abused by the Iranian authorities

The Iranian Foreign Ministry rebuffed on Tuesday claims by two US nationals convicted of illegal entry and espionage who were recently released on bail of being abused by the Iranian authorities.

“Iranian border guards acted according to their legal obligations and because they had illegally entered our Iranian soil arrested them (the US nationals) and turned them over to judiciary officials,” Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi said.

The head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriate Affairs said the US nationals were arrested on illegal entry and espionage charges, stressing that their arrest was unrelated to their nationality and the political differences between Tehran and Washington.

Qashaqavi also rejected alleges that Iranian authorities had mistreated the inmates. “As their lawyer clearly stated all three US nationals, including the two released on bail and based on Islamic compassion, throughout their detention they enjoyed all the rights and benefits of a prisoner and perhaps even beyond it,” he added.

At a press conference held immediately after their arrival in New York City on September 25, Shane Michael Bauer and Joshua Felix Fattal claimed they were abused while in jail in Iran. They also claimed they were only allowed to speak with family members for 15 minutes during more than two years of detention. However, Iranian authorities even allowed the three to meet their families in May 2010.

Their lawyer Masoud Shafiei rejected the allegations, arguing that if they had been mistreated in prison they would have raised the issue during their court sessions or told him about it. Shafiei also dismissed Fattal's claims that other prisoners were beaten, saying that the two US nationals were in prison and could not possibly have had any access to information about other prisoners.

Iranian Judiciary Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei also dismissed the two men's allegations about mistreatment, saying the claims had been anticipated and were predictable.