Clinton urges Iran to free US hikers

TEHRAN/BERLIN - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday called for Iran to immediately release three US hikers charged with espionage after four months of detention in Tehran.

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal were arrested by Iranian security forces in July after disappearing along the Iran-Iraq border. At the time, Iran said the trio were journalists working for pro-Israeli news websites.

“We believe strongly that there is no evidence for any charge whatsoever,” Clinton said, renewing a request “on behalf of the three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them so they can return home.”

US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington the charges were “outrageous” and “devastating” for their families.

Teheran’s Prosecutor-General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi had told the official news agency IRNA that investigations into the case were continuing.

Clinton was speaking in Berlin after talks with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle which also touched on Iran’s controversial nuclear enrichment programme. Clinton was in the German capital for celebrations marking the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.

“We want a dialogue, and we want a diplomatic solution,” Westerwelle said of joint German and US demands that Iran curb its nuclear enrichment and take steps to assure the world that the programme has purely civilian aims.

“However, Iran must know that the patience of the international community is not endless,” Westerwelle added.

Clinton added that Iran should not miss the “opportunity” to cooperate with an offer made by the “5+1″ group of permanent members of the US security council and Germany.

Talks with Iran were postponed after Iran failed to give a clear reply on a nuclear fuel deal which world powers regard as a first step to breaking the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programmes.

Iran is supposed to swap 3.5-percent-enriched uranium from its Natanz plant for 20-percent material from Russia and France to be used for a reactor in Tehran.

Iran has reportedly agreed in principle but is insisting on some technical changes to the deal.