Three young American hikers who have been held in Iran for the last nine months on suspicious of spying got to see their moms for the first time this week after the Iranian government granted the women visas to enter the country and visit their children. Their reunion was telecast, as was the first press conference the prisoners have been allowed to give. The three young people, Sarah Shourd, 31, her boyfriend, Shane Bauer, 27, and their friend Josh Fattal, 27, say that they’re aren’t being mistreated and that they appreciate Iran allowing them to see their mothers.
The reunion was staged at a luxury hotel, rather than the notorious Evin Prison where the three are being held. They are being held on charges of spying and entering the country illegally after they were detained last summer on the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan. The trio’s relatives maintain that they were simply on a hiking trip. It seems unlikely that the family’s hope, which is that they will be able to return home with their mother’s, will come to fruition. Their case is particularly strained given the current stand off between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear issues.
The case has not yet gone to court, and their lawyers say that the outcome is impossible to predict. Swiss diplomats who have been monitoring the prisoners on the U.S.’s behalf say that Sarah was suffering a serious gynecological condition, while Bauer had a stomach ailment, but health issues weren’t brought up in the press conference, which was carefully staged. We can only hope seeing their moms helps these three young people keep their spirits up in what must be a terrifying situation.
