"Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have been each sentenced to eight years in jail by the branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court," ISNA quoted him as telling a news conference. He said the verdict can be appealed in 20 days.

On Saturday state television quoted an informed judiciary source as saying that the pair had been sentenced to eight years in prison for illegal entry and spying for a US intelligence agency.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011