AFP: A leading lawmaker said it may take time to resolve the fate of the three American hikers arrested after apparently straying into Iran, state-owned Arabic language TV Al-Alam reported on Monday.
TEHRAN (AFP) — A leading lawmaker said it may take time to resolve the fate of the three American hikers arrested after apparently straying into Iran, state-owned Arabic language TV Al-Alam reported on Monday.
"Having kept our officials in captivity for some time, I don't think the Americans expect the fate of these people to be determined soon," Aladdin Brujerdi, head of parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, told the satellite channel.
The three "are going through the legal process," Brujerdi said.
Last month the US military in Iraq freed five Iranian diplomats who had been held for 30 months following their arrest in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January, 2007.
The United States accused the Iranian officials of arming militias in Iraq and inciting anti-US attacks in the war-torn country.
The three US hikers — Shane Bauer, Sara Shourd and Joshua Fattal — were widely reported to have been arrested by the Iranian authorities on July 31 after setting out from Iraq's northern Kurdish region.
