US trio 'on Iran spying charge'

by BBC

Mon, Nov 9, 2009 6:12AM

Three young Americans detained in Iran over alleged illegal entry are to be charged with espionage, Iranian state news agency Irna says.

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal have been held by Iranian authorities since the end of July.
The trio are thought to have crossed a poorly marked border by mistake while hiking in Iraq's Kurdish region.
The US has voiced deep concern about their detention, while their families have appealed for their release.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met their families, promising that the US was "exploring every angle" to secure their freedom.
According to the state news agency, the move was announced by general prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi.
"The three are charged with espionage. Investigations continue into the three detained Americans in Iran," Irna quoted him as saying.
Swiss diplomats were allowed to meet the trio, aged in their 20s and 30s, in late September for the first time since their arrest.
The Swiss government represents US interests in Iran, with whom the US has no formal diplomatic relations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8350673.stm

Add Your Comments

§Curious About US State Dept Interests

by curious

Mon, Nov 9, 2009 6:19AM

So far we have a case where three activists/journalists (who were involved in Palestinian activism) are being held by Iran and the campaign to free them is presenting them as naive young student hikers. Since the Iranian government has access to Google it is not a huge surprise they find this strange.

I wonder how much advise the State Department has been giving as to how to handle this case. So far organizing to free them seems to be aimed more at the US public than at the Iranian government or public which seems unlikely to result in a release but perhaps help raise tensions between the US and Iran. If the State Department sees a military conflict with Iran as likely in the near future, perhaps they even hope for the worst since getting a normally antiwar community angry at Iran before a war starts makes getting the US public to back a war a bit easier?

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§Why go through the U.S. government and its allies at all?

by Aaron Aarons (indy [at] aarons.f-m.fm)

Mon, Nov 9, 2009 9:04AM

The United Snakes government is an enemy of both the three hikers and the Iranians. Depending on the U.S. or its representatives like the Swiss to resolve this is absurd, and can only play into the hands of the U.S. imperialists and the Zionists in their campaign against Iran.

Has anybody asked friendly governments, like those of Venezuela or Cuba, to take up the cause of these anti-imperialist activists with the Iranians?

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