TEHRAN, Iran (
AP)
-- Two American men arrested more than two years ago while hiking along
the Iraq-Iran border have been sentenced to eight years in prison on
charges that include espionage, state TV reported Saturday, in an
apparent sharp blow to hopes their release was imminent.
The announcement seems to send a hard-line message from Iran's judiciary
-- which answers directly to the ruling clerics -- weeks after the
country's foreign minister suggested that the trial of Shane Bauer and
Josh Fattal could clear the way for their freedom. It also is likely to raise speculation about Iran using the Americans as
political bargaining chips and could bring added tensions to Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's expected visit to New York next month
for the annual General Assembly at the United Nations. But the report -- although carried on Iran's highly controlled state
media -- was not immediately confirmed by authorities. Iranian
government officials made no further comment, but it is not unusual for
Iran to use selected state news outlets to make high-profile
announcements.
More... via
eye-on-the-world
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)
-- Two American men arrested more than two years ago while hiking along
the Iraq-Iran border have been sentenced to eight years in prison on
charges that include espionage, state TV reported Saturday, in an
apparent sharp blow to hopes their release was imminent.
The announcement seems to send a hard-line message from Iran's judiciary
-- which answers directly to the ruling clerics -- weeks after the
country's foreign minister suggested that the trial of Shane Bauer and
Josh Fattal could clear the way for their freedom. It also is likely to raise speculation about Iran using the Americans as
political bargaining chips and could bring added tensions to Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's expected visit to New York next month
for the annual General Assembly at the United Nations. But the report -- although carried on Iran's highly controlled state
media -- was not immediately confirmed by authorities. Iranian
government officials made no further comment, but it is not unusual for
Iran to use selected state news outlets to make high-profile
announcements. More... via eye-on-the-world
