Democracy Now Re-Airs Report from Shane Bauer, 1 of 3 Americans Held in Iran After Arrest Near Iraq Border

A fourth member of the group of the three Americans who are reportedly being detained by Iranian authorities after going for a hiking trip in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan says they entered Iran by accident and made “a simple and very regrettable mistake.” Shon Meckfessel, who had traveled with Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal, from Damascus, Syria to Iraqi Kurdistan for a short vacation, was not with the other three when they disappeared.

In a statement published Thursday on The Nation magazine"s website Meckfessel writes: “While going there might seem strange to Americans, the Kurdish territory is actually very beautiful and quite safe.” He notes that they had planned to go on a hike to a place with a waterfall called Ahmed Awa which they did not know was near the Iranian border. The place was recommended to them by locals and was not marked on the maps they had.

Shon Meckfessel stayed behind at the hotel nursing a cold while his three friends left for the hike. After speaking with Shane Bauer on the morning of July 31st to meet up with them at Ahmed Awa, Meckfessel lost contact with the group. Two hours later, Shane Bauer called him to say they had been taken into custody and asked him to call the embassy.

Well Shane Bauer is a freelance journalist who has written for The Nation magazine and the Pacific News Service. Earlier this year, Democracy Now! aired a report co-produced by Bauer and Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films on the US military allying with Sunni militias in Iraq.

Jacquie Soohen and Shane Bauer,, February 2009 report from Iraq.

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