World

Iran Confirms Arrest of American Tourists

by Mary Richard | August 2, 2009 at 01:07 pm

326 views | 34 Recommendations | 3 comments

Iranian state al-Alam television confirmed on Saturday the arrest of three American tourists, saying their case will take its natural course.

Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd of California, and Joshua Fattal of Pennsylvania were hiking in a mountainous Kurdish region near Sulaimaniyah when they accidently wandered over the ill defined border.

Kurdish tourist police had allegedly warned them that the Iranian border was very close.

Four Americans -- two of them students in Syria -- traveled from Syria to Turkey and then into Kurdistan in northern Iraq, arriving at Irbil on Tuesday.
Three of the group left early Friday in a taxi for Ahmed Awa near Iraq's border with Iran, planning to hike in the mountains there, Ahmed said. The fourth member of the group was ill and stayed behind.

The fourth tourist, Shon Meckfessel, later received a phone call from them stating "we are in trouble and are being held by soldiers who are not speaking Kurdish or Arabic."

The area where the three disappeared is a popular hiking destination known for a picturesque waterfall and rocky scenery as well as a thick growth of fruit and nut trees. The official said camping equipment and two backpacks apparently belonging to the Americans were found in the area and it seemed they were hiking above the waterfall when they accidentally crossed the border.

The head of the Iranian Parliament's foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, elaborated on the issue.

"This case is currently on its natural course," Boroujerdi said without giving any additional information on the status of the detainees.

The Swiss Embassy in Tehran is working to learn more about the Americans' fate through its contacts with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Nadine Olivieri said.

2 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend Sign In or Join to post comments

Yuliya Talmazan

at 16:44 on August 2nd, 2009

It is a very tense situation for sure. Thanks for updating.

158

at 20:32 on August 2nd, 2009

Americans should stay away from Iran for now.

alia_d

at 11:37 on August 10th, 2009

Good story.

The American government has also confirmed the arrest of the American tourists in Iran. On Sunday (August 9) Jim Jones, Obama's National Security Advisor, said that the Iranian government confirmed that it had the three Americans in custody.