Family Confirms US Hiker's Arrest in Iran

(NEWSER) - The three American hikers nabbed by Iranian authorities after allegedly crossing the border from Iraq were actually spies, an Iranian TV report claims. The Tehran-based station quotes an Iraqi policeman as saying the three were “working with the CIA.” Hillary Clinton meanwhile asked the Iranian government today for more information on the hikers, asking that they “return them as quickly as possible.” More»

(NEWSER) - Iran has arrested three American tourists who were hiking near the border in Iraq's Kurdistan region, the BBC reports. Kurdish officials believe the hikers were seized after accidentally straying into Iranian territory. State Department officials say they are investigating and taking the matter very seriously. "It looks like the three of them were kidnapped and they may have been taken into Iran," one official said. More»

But Tehran has made promises in the past

(NEWSER) - Iran will allow the mothers of the three American hikers who have been in custody for nearly a year to visit their children. Tehran has ordered its UN mission to issue visas for the three moms, the AP reports, but no date has been has been set. Iran has told the families before that they would receive visas and then failed to deliver. More»

Policy reversal may be gesture of goodwill ahead of nuclear talks

(NEWSER) - Iran has changed its policy on three detained US hikers, allowing Swiss diplomats—who represent American interests in Iran—to visit them. Officials have been denied access to the three Americans since they were detained in July after crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Tehran’s reversal may be an attempt to smooth relations with the US ahead of Thursday’s UN Security Council meetings, which will deal with the nation’s nuclear ambitions, the BBC reports. More»

Tehran's trade delegate also accused of smuggling weapons

(NEWSER) - The US military said today it arrested an Iranian who allegedly smuggled bombs for use against US and Iraqi forces, the Los Angeles Times reports. Aghawi Farhadi is also accused of training terrorists for Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Soldiers captured Farhadi in a pre-dawn raid in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah, where he was staying as part of a trade delegation. More»