(CNN) -- Referring to two American hikers in custody for more than two years, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters Tuesday: "I am helping to arrange for the release in a couple of days so they will be able to return home." The semi-official Mehr News Agency quickly echoed the president with a headline, "Iran's Judiciary agrees to release two U.S. citizens on bail." Within 24 hours, however, the Shiite clerics who run Iran's legal system seemed to pour cold water on hopes of a quick release by declaring the "request to release two U.S. citizens on bail was under study." They went on to warn the media and the United States that "only reports published by the judiciary could be trusted."
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Jamsheed K. Choksy: The uncertain status of two U.S. hikers reflects Iran divisions
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He says President Mahoud Ahamadinejad is locked in struggle with mullahs
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Iran's president is challenging the idea of Islamic theocracy, Choksy says
Ahmadinejad's offer of a "unilateral pardon of course on behalf of the @placeholder nation" was in turn a warning shot to those clergymen that he could exercise the presidency's constitutional authority if this matter is not resolved satisfactorily.