Iran Demands Prisoner Exchange for Hikers
Iran has announced new terms for the release three American hikers they have arrested and labeled as "spies":
Iran said on Sunday that the three American hikers arrested last July near the Iraq border were spies and demanded the U.S. propose a prisoner swap to secure their release, Reuters reports.
Iran's Intelligence Minister Heyder Moslehi called on the U.S. to make a humanitarian gesture to Iranians before there can be any talk of an eventual exchange for three detained hikers, according to a report Sunday by the ISNA news agency.
"What Iran did was a humanitarian gesture," Moslehi said of a brief visit to Tehran by the mothers of Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, Americans held for nearly 10 months.
The three Americans were detained on July 31 last year after crossing Iran's border while on a hiking trip in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region. Washington says they are innocent and should be released.
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