The Mirmehdi brothers — Mohammed, Mostafa, Mohsen and Mojtaba — were arrested in October 2001 following an FBI investigation into a Los Angeles-based cell of the Moujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, which opposes Iran's regime.

The FBI claimed informants indicated the Mirmehdi brothers associated with the MEK. Although the four admitted attending protests against the Iranian government that were allegedly sponsored by the MEK, they denied ever belonging to the group, the newspaper said.

The group itself has been listed as a terrorist organization by the State Department since 1997. Even after that designation, it was supported by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who viewed its members as freedom fighters.

In 2000, Ashcroft, then a U.S. senator from Missouri, and fellow Missouri Republican Sen. Chris Bond issued a written statement supportive of the MEK that was read aloud during a demonstration against a speech by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Newsweek reported in 2002.

The four brothers, who previously worked as real estate agents in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, requested their release on bond but were turned down in January 2002.

An appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals in June 2002 was also rejected because the brothers allegedly "associated with a terrorist organization and pose a danger to persons or property."

At the time, the FBI reported discovering a list while searching an MEK safe house in Los Angeles with names allegedly constituting an MEK cell.

Though the Mirmehdis' names were listed, they maintained it was an innocuous travel log for a June 1997 political rally in Denver sponsored by an exile group known as the National Council of Resistance.

Currently, the brothers, ages 31 to 44, are being held in an immigration detention facility in Los Angeles' San Pedro section and continue to seek their release.

Defense attorney Marc Van Der Hout said the case is the result of "post-9/11 hysteria." He argued before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the brothers should be freed on bond. The brothers could be deported to a third country or allowed to remain in the United States.

"It's outrageous that the government has gotten away with holding them for more than 21/2 years without any evidence of terrorism whatsoever," said Van Der Hout.

The brothers originally entered the country in 1978, 1992 and 1993. They were arrested in 1999 after they admitted to lying in applications for political asylum. After their release on bond, they were arrested again in 2001 and are awaiting the outcome of their detention case.