A mother’s horror: Iran to release only 1 of 3 hikers

As the mothers of Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, have spent the last year pacing up and down in the private hell of not knowing whether they will ever see their children again, the Iranians who are detaining the ostensibly luckless hikers have dickered around, threatened and thrown out small bones of hope. Their latest: they plan to release one — just one, and we don’t know which — of the Americans on the Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, as a traditional gesture of faith and good will. This is to take place on Saturday, according to reports today.

While the news is not unwelcome, it will be painfully difficult for the mothers of the two detainees left behind. But if it has to be one, no doubt they are hoping it’s Sarah, who has told her mother in fleeting phone calls that she is ill — apparently, a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells — but her Iranian captors will not give her access to medical treatment. She has been in solitary confinement, while the men are sharing a cell, according to reports. The three have been accused of entering Iran with the intention of spying, though they have insisted they were captured in Iraqi Kurdistan near the border, and never had any intention of going into Iran. They were taken in July 2009.

It is clear they are pawns in a much greater battle of wills between the Iranian regime and the American government, which has succeeded in the last year to impose greater sanctions on Iran and is seeking even more over the Persians’ alleged nuclear weapons program. But to engage in this kind of revenge on three young people who by all reports have spent much of the last several years working in underdeveloped regions and learning about and working for social justice in the Muslim world, is the height of perversity.

On a side note, Bauer is a great and sensitive writer who shed amazing light on the Iraqi Special Forces (brought to you by America’s finest) just before he was jailed. “Iraq’s New Death Squad” is an important read and probably didn’t make him many friends within the military either. Our own Scott Horton interviewed Bauer in June 2009 — you can listen here.

One thought on “A mother’s horror: Iran to release only 1 of 3 hikers”

  1. I could get more sympathetic to these hikers, except n0-0ne has ever explained why in the world, they should be “hiking” in such a unseemly place. Also, why is such official conduct on Iran’s part be called “the height of perversity” by Islam when we ourselves lock up innocent teenagers in Gitmo, and leave them there to rot. What goes around, comes around, you know.

  2. According to AP: "Bak Sahraei, second counselor of the UN mission confirmed Thursday in an e-mail that Sarah Shourd would be the one set free on Saturday."

    1. Is this the same NEDA who held a bottle to her face and squirted blood as the camera shifted, then looked at the camera? Looked fake to me.

      1. Does the Iranian government even deny that this young woman is dead? But you're going to be, er, more Catholic than the pope in your propaganda?

  3. It should not be surprising that the Iranian government is using three young adults as pawns in thier dispute with the USG/ All governments are criminal organizations to a greater or lesser extent and the Iranian government is no exception to this rule/

  4. Just out of curiousity, what exactly were these guys doing just "hiking" around Iran? Seems weird.

  5. Andy,
    I agree – would help orient me in your direction, Kelly, if there was any reasonable explanation why they were "hiking" in a place that offers nothing to see except a chance to spy. Anyway, we do the same thing – lock up innocent people in Gitmo to rot. Why expect a universe where we can do evil but no-one else can?

    1. Far be it for me to second-guess people's vacation destinations, but apparently that is what they were doing in Kurdistan, that, and possibly a little freelance work for Bauer. This, from when the three were captured:

      "Pacific News Service Executive Director Sandy Close, who hired Bauer to cover the elections in northern Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region, said she does not believe the freelance journalist ever intended to go to neighboring Iran.

      In an email, Bauer told Close he wanted to "feel out the situation (in Kurdistan) and get some ideas for deeper stories."

      "Kurdistan is the big story in Iraq now," Bauer wrote in the email provided to The Associated Press. "I'm off to Kurdistan … "

      Close said Bauer sent her emails on Monday and Wednesday, then went backpacking with his girlfriend Sarah Shourd in a popular tourist area renowned for its scenery. It was unclear how the two met up with Elkins Park, Pa. native Joshua Fattal. Close said Bauer wouldn't have deliberately tried to enter Iran."

      Of course, because they went to UC Berkeley and actually care enough about Arabs and Muslims to live with them and learn about them — even worse, advocate for better conditions for Palestinians! — they deserve an even worse fate. From Queen of Mean and right wing slap-chop Debbie Schlussel: "I’d say, 'Let ‘em rot in hell.' But, right now, they’re rotting in Iran. Close enough."
      http://www.debbieschlussel.com/5868/let-em-rot-hi

  6. Three Mossad agents got caught infiltrating… anybody with a brain can see this… Israel is lucky to have one released.

    Hey Matt, will you allow this to post?

    Bet not.

    1. Sure, I'll allow you to post this stupidity. But since you fraudulently used my name (misspelled, of course), you're now banned. Everyone wins!

  7. Kelley Beaucar Vlahos is obviously an hasbara agent, why would Antiwar give her (him, it, whatever) a voice?

    How about this one, Matt?

    Bet not again…

  8. Sorry Ms. Vlahos but this is a crock. These bozos weren't "hiking" and yes, they are under suspicion. Why oh why would anyone with half a brain play border tag with Iran? There is way more to this story than has hit the old public eye. You know, that vaguely missing journalism schtick?
    There are an inordinate number of "mothers" all around our horribly beleaguered planet that can't hold their precious young ones on account of some vicious political intrigue or another. How about the "mothers" of all the sorry chumps in Guantanamo? Bagram AirBase? How many Palestinian mothers are grieving their children held by Israel?
    IF Iran "releases" even one of three really stupid youngsters, they should count their lucky stars. I don't know Ma'am, I smell 'red-flagging' and coming from you it's shocking.

    1. Absolutely moronic. We talk about Gitmo, Bagram, and Israel ALL THE TIME. The crimes committed there do not excuse any others elsewhere.

      1. "Moronic?" I know full well that Antiwar.com "talks" about Gitmo, Bagram, and Israel ALL THE TIME." No need to yell Matt. I do NOT recall Antiwar.com ladling up the 'pity them' motif for the "mothers" of prisoners prior to this article. By you or Ms. Vlahos? Gots Ms. Kelley's name on the top of the page. So…?
        What I find moronic is three incredibly stupid youngsters playing games with Iran that could very easily cost them their lives. That's moronic. These three were up to something besides "hiking." Yeah we should feel badly for their mothers. Sorry your kids are dummies.

          1. Hi WC:
            I do understand they (the "hikers" three) are fully grown adults. But from my aged perspective, they're still just kids. Immaturity knows little good sense. The story about 'globe-trekker' three just does not pass the old "scratch-and-sniff" test. Nope. Scratch this story and SOMETHING just doesn't smell right. Certainly does get our intrepid Matt Barganier's knickers in a knot for sure. I don't know, maybe Matt just woke up on the pissy side of the bed.

          2. do understand they (the "hikers" three) are fully grown adults. But from my aged perspective, they're still just kids.

            I believe "adultolescents" is probably the operative descriptive word here. I can't think of a better term to describe anyone of a majority age who would do something as reckless-teenage-stupid as vacation in what is, for all practical purposes, a war zone. But, as others have commented here, I don't think "hiking" or "vacation" is what these three were really up to. That said, I can only imagine any parent's grief and anguish at not knowing when, or if, they'll ever see their child again, no matter how old they are or what they did to get themselves in a jam.

  9. Hello – listen to the mp3 above. How would the CIA hire someone who is writing articles about secret military squads for The Nation?

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