Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran is charging three American hikers with espionage, a Tehran prosecutor said Monday.
The three Americans have been detained since July 31 on charges of illegally crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Their family and friends say it was an innocent mistake.
The announcement of the charges comes only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met privately with the families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, who were detained along the Iran-Iraq border at the end of July.
Tehran's prosecutor general, Abbas Ja'afari Dolatabadi, announced the charges in an interview with the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
"The charge against the three U.S. citizens who were arrested on the Iran-Iraq border is espionage. Investigation of their cases is in progress," he told IRNA, adding: "There will be more to say [about them] soon."
Dolatabadi also said a Danish journalism student who was arrested last week in Iran was still under investigation.
"A journalist must have an official permit from authorized officials," he told IRNA. "Therefore, the investigation will continue. We have also requested information from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance [which accredits foreign journalists] and after they respond to our inquiry we will make our decision."
READ FULL STORY HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment