LONDON — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has said two American hikers jailed for espionage in his country last month will be freed within “two days,” NBC reported on Tuesday, citing an exclusive interview with the Iranian leader.

The development was confirmed by the semi-official Fars state news agency, which quoted a lawyer for the two men as saying they would be freed on bail of $500,000 each and allowed to leave Iran.

The two, Shane M. Bauer and Joshua F. Fattal, both 29, were sentenced to eight years in jail last month on the charges, which they deny. The Americans have already spent two years in a Tehran prison after being arrested near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2009. A third hiker, Sarah E. Shourd, was released on $500,000 bail in September 2010, and returned to the United States.

The announcement comes as the president of Iran prepares to kick off his annual media blitz ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

A lawyer for the two men, Masoud Shafiei, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying the families of the two men had been informed of their bail terms and “Bauer and Fattal can leave Iran similar to Sarah Shourd.”

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