matrix
22nd May 2010, 08:43 AM
US moms revisit kids before flight
Mothers of American detainees charged with espionage in Iran have left Tehran for the United States after visiting their children for a second time.
http://uc-njavan.ir/images/8nuw1vybaq4ksr2oq.jpg (http://uc-njavan.ir/)
Iranian authorities announced that the American parents met with their children again on Friday, hours before reporting to Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport for departure of their flight back to the US, IRNA reported.
The US mothers had earlier met with a number of Iranian mothers whose children have been detained by US authorities for no clear charges and without the privilege of independent legal council or family visits.
Last week, Iranian authorities granted three mothers visas to travel to Tehran in order to visit with their loved ones. Officials in Tehran have explained that the decision to issues visas to parents of the American detainees was a humanitarian gesture based on Islamic values and ethical codes.
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal were detained in July 2009 for illegally intruding into Iranian territory from a sensitive border area in northern Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, was quoted by IRNA as saying that two Iranian nationals who were held for years by US occupation forces in Iraq were released.
Iranian pilgrim Ahmad Barazandeh was arrested by US forces in Iraq seven years ago and Ali Abdolmaleki was detained three years ago, said Qomi.
The ambassador noted that the American troops had arrested the two Iranian pilgrims on baseless charges and for not carrying their passports.
The two Iranian nationals were released under the provisions of a security agreement between the United States and Iraq and were then handed over to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad on Friday
Mothers of American detainees charged with espionage in Iran have left Tehran for the United States after visiting their children for a second time.
http://uc-njavan.ir/images/8nuw1vybaq4ksr2oq.jpg (http://uc-njavan.ir/)
Iranian authorities announced that the American parents met with their children again on Friday, hours before reporting to Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport for departure of their flight back to the US, IRNA reported.
The US mothers had earlier met with a number of Iranian mothers whose children have been detained by US authorities for no clear charges and without the privilege of independent legal council or family visits.
Last week, Iranian authorities granted three mothers visas to travel to Tehran in order to visit with their loved ones. Officials in Tehran have explained that the decision to issues visas to parents of the American detainees was a humanitarian gesture based on Islamic values and ethical codes.
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal were detained in July 2009 for illegally intruding into Iranian territory from a sensitive border area in northern Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, was quoted by IRNA as saying that two Iranian nationals who were held for years by US occupation forces in Iraq were released.
Iranian pilgrim Ahmad Barazandeh was arrested by US forces in Iraq seven years ago and Ali Abdolmaleki was detained three years ago, said Qomi.
The ambassador noted that the American troops had arrested the two Iranian pilgrims on baseless charges and for not carrying their passports.
The two Iranian nationals were released under the provisions of a security agreement between the United States and Iraq and were then handed over to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad on Friday