By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On February16 Iran’s top human rights official confirmed that Iranian officials were considering allowing the families of three detained Americans to visit them in prison. The three hikers were detained after allegedly crossing into the country illegally in July of last. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said that he was hopeful that the case of the hikers would be resolved and they they would be freed.

The mothers of the three hikers recently wrote to President Ahmedinejad, requesting a visit. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s High Council of Human Rights said that the mothers’ request had a good chance of being approved. Larijani spoke in Geneva at a UN review of Iran’s human rights record and said, “we recommend that the families should be able to see them and I hope that this be done.”

The three hikers were arrested on July 31, 2009. Shane Bauer, Sarah Shroud and Josh Fattal say that they were hiking in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region when they accidentally crossed in the border into Iran. The three were accused of spying on the Islamic Republic and illegal entry. Their families insist that they had no intention of entering Iran. They have had been allowed to make any phone calls to the hikers in jail. Their mothers also said they want to meet the Iranian President to explain why they should be released.

Iran’s foreign minister announced in December 2009 that the three Americans would be tried in court, but failed to say the specific crime they would be charged with. President Ahmadinejad repeated on February 16 that the final decision regarding the US hikers rested with the judiciary. He said that, “we are eager to see them released but it depends on the crime they have committed and the judge’s verdict.”

Ahmadinejad also indicated that the fate of the US hikers should be tied to that of Iranians jailed in the United States. Iran claims that eleven Iranians are being held in the US, including a missing nuclear scientist and a former deputy defense minister who hasn’t been seen since 2007. However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that no prisoner exchange discussions had taken place between the two countries.

For more information, please see:

AP – Iran Mulling Family Visit For Detained Americans – 16 February 2010

BBC – US Hikers’ Mothers May Be Allowed to Visit Iran – 16 February 2010

Reuters – Ahmadinejad Says Hopeful on Detainees in Iran/US – 16 February 2010