TEHRAN — Iran said Monday that a court will try three Americans who wandered across the border from Iraq in July and became ensnared in an increasingly bitter standoff with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki did not say when the trial would begin or even what the Americans were charged with, other than that they had “suspicious aims.” Last month, Iran’s chief prosecutor said they were accused of spying.
“They will be tried by Iran’s judiciary system and verdicts will be issued,” Mottaki told a news conference. He said the three were being interrogated.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Iranian move was “totally unfounded” and appealed anew for the Americans’ release.
“We consider this a totally unfounded charge,” she told reporters. “There is no basis for it. The three young people who were detained by the Iranians have absolutely no connection with any kind of action against the Iranian state or government.
“In fact, they were out hiking and unfortunately, apparently, allegedly, walked across an unmarked boundary,” she said. “We appeal to the Iranian leadership to release these three young people and free them as soon as possible.”
The three, Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27 — all graduates of the University of California at Berkeley — had been trekking in Iraq’s northern region when they accidentally crossed into Iran, according to relatives. The trio were arrested July 31.
All three families declined to comment on the announcement.
In an interview with The Associated Press in September, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted that while the three had broken the law by crossing into Iran, he would ask the judiciary to expedite the process and to “look at the case with maximum leniency.” The Americans have been held in Iran’s Evin prison, where Swiss diplomats have visited them twice and said they are healthy.
