Officials from Oman say a plane is in the Iranian capital standing by to transport Minnesota native Shane Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal if they're released. Mediators are reportedly negotiating with Iran. The pair has been held for more than two years on charges of spying.

The delegation met for over an hour this weekend with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about releasing Minnesota-native Shane Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal.

A deal to pay $1 million bail for the release of Minnesota native Shane Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal hit a snag because a judge whose signature was needed was away on vacation. The deal is expected to move forward when the judge returns Tuesday. Bauer and Fattal have been held for more than two years on spying charges.

An Iranian court has set bail at $500,000 each for a Minnesota man and his friend. A third member of their group, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on the same bail.

Iran's powerful judiciary says it's still studying a bail offer that would free a Minnesota native and his friend imprisoned there. Just a day earlier Iran's president said the Americans could be free in a couple of days. But the president has long been locked in a power struggle with the country's clerics, who control the courts.

Minnesota native Shane Bauer and friend Josh Fattal are on their way home after judges in Iran signed off on $1 million bail deal.

Bauer and Fattal say they were held in isolation. Phone calls with family members amounted to a total of 15 minutes in two years and they had to go on repeated hunger strikes to receive letters.

Politico quotes a few anonymous sources, one of whom says the situation is "dire." They say the Republican hopeful is having trouble tapping major donors.