US remains hopeful Iran will release hikers-Clinton.

The United States remains hopeful that Iran will release two US hikers and is not unduly concerned by Tehran’s delay in carrying out a pledge to free them earlier this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.
We continue to hope that the two young Americans will be released as part of a humanitarian gesture by the Iranian government,” Clinton said at a news conference in San Francisco, where she was on an official visit.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a US television interviewer that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal would be freed in coming days in a humanitarian gesture ahead of his trip to the United Nations in New York.


But Iran’s judiciary on Wednesday said the release was not imminent.
Clinton said the United States had noted previous delays between official Iranian announcements and their eventual execution and had been assured by a number of sources both publicly and privately that the two men would be freed.
I m going to count on the Iranian government fulfilling the announcement that was made by the leadership of the country and hope that it can be expedited and we can see their release very soon.