AFP: The mothers of three US citizens detained in Iran are to visit the country next week and see their children for the first time in almost 10 months.
NEW YORK (AFP) — The mothers of three US citizens detained in Iran are to visit the country next week and see their children for the first time in almost 10 months.
The mothers — Cindy Hickey, Nora Shourd and Laura Fattal — confirmed they had finally received visas and that the trip, which Tehran is allowing on “humanitarian” grounds, would go ahead.
“We cannot wait to see our children after nine long and distressing months and are doing everything we can to arrive in Iran as quickly as possible,” they said in a statement.
“We expect to finalize our travel arrangements this week and fly to Tehran early next week.”
Sarah Shourd, 31, Shane Bauer, 27, and Josh Fattal, 27, were detained after straying across Iran’s border during what they said was a hiking trip in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Iran initially accused them of spying, but Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in December they faced charges of entering the country illegally. Their detention has turned into another irritant in already tense US-Iranian relations.
