Two American hikers held by Iran for more than two years on spy charges were released Wednesday from an Iranian prison and left Tehran.

Iranian state media say Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal boarded a plane provided by the Omani government. They are reportedly headed to Oman on the first leg of a journey back to the United States.

The two men were handed over to an Omani delegation earlier Wednesday after a judge approved an order for their release on a combined bail of $1 million. News reports say they will receive a brief medical checkup in Oman before returning to the United States.

Iranian authorities detained Bauer, Fattal and a third American, Sarah Shourd, on spying charges in 2009. Tehran said they illegally crossed into the country from Iraq. Iran freed Shourd last year on $500,000 bail and she returned to the United States.

The release of Bauer and Fattal comes a day before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Analysts say Mr. Ahmadinejad may have been hoping to use the release to gain some international approval. Iranian media say he will focus on a theme of global management in his annual address before the world body.

In August, an Iranian court had sentenced Bauer and Fattal to eight years in prison on spying convictions.

All three Americans had maintained their innocence and said they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq while on vacation. They said that if they crossed the unmarked border into Iran, it was by mistake.