US families hope Iran will release hikers

TEHRAN, Iran (AP):

Relatives of two American men arrested more than two years ago in Iran said yesterday that the news they had received eight-year prison sentences for spying hit them hard, but they remain hopeful the men will eventually be released.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were sentenced Saturday to three years for illegal entry into Iran and five years for spying for the United States.

The two were arrested in July 2009 near the Iraq-Iran border along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was released in September on $500,000 bail and returned to the US. All three deny the charges, saying they were only hiking near the ill-defined border.

Samantha Topping, spokeswoman for the Bauer and Fattal families, sent a statement yesterday, saying their relatives had received confirmation of their sentences.

"Of the 751 days of Shane and Josh's imprisonment, yesterday and today have been the most difficult for our families," it said. "Shane and Josh are innocent and have never posed any threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran, its government or its people."

Detained

But the statement also said the families still hoped the two would be released, based on remarks from Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. He said earlier this month that he hoped "the trial of the two American defendants who were detained for the crime of illegally entering Iran will finally lead to their freedom."

The families had been hoping that meant the men would be set free during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when pardons are traditionally handed down.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the American government is "deeply disappointed" by the sentences and the men have the nation's and President Barack Obama's "unflagging support".

"We continue to call and work for their immediate release - it is time for them to return home and be reunited with their families," she said.