Lengthy Game of Investigation in Case of American Prisoners

One year after three American citizens were arrested and jailed by Iranian agents and charged with espionage, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry displayed a more visibly cautious tone, blaming “illegal entry into Iranian territory” as the “obvious” violation committed by the three Americans. The change in tone follows a series of declarations by American officials, though the Iranian spokesperson said that “political pressure” would not influence the fate of the three individuals.

The foreign ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said, “The three American citizens were detained on July 31, 2009 for illegally entering Iranian territory. The violation therefore is clear and they need to be held accountable before the law, like any other individual.”

Mehmanparast added, “Other potential charges such as acting against the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran are being investigated by the relevant authorities.”

Responding to U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent declarations, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson insisted that, “Their case is merely a judicial case and is being processed accordingly. Therefore, attempts to influence the judicial case through political pressure or the recent media propaganda campaigns in some European cities will not influence the judiciary’s independent handling of the matter.”

On Friday, the anniversary of the American citizens’ arrests, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton issued separate statements calling the arrest of the three American citizens “unjust” and calling for their “immediate release,” noting that the individuals “have never had any quarrel with the government of Iran, and have great respect for the Iranian people.”

The case of Sarah Shroud, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal has been handled in silence ever since the three were charged with espionage. Iranian and American officials have since periodically publicly spoken of the issue.

Once, in an interview with the Arabic-language Al-Alam network – affiliated with the Islamic Republic – the head of Majlis’ national security and foreign affairs committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, implicitly connected the arrest of the three American citizens with the arrest of several Iranian officers in Iraq by American forces. He said, “I don’t think that Americans are expecting to resolve the case of these three individuals quickly.”

Then, during his trip to New York last year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the NBC network that “the release of the three American hikers may become linked to the release of several Iranian citizens who have bee arrested by American forces in Iraq.”

Meanwhile, a number of Iranian officials have been released in Iraq by the American forces since the detention of the three hikers.

After the mothers of the three Americans were allowed to travel to Tehran and meet with them, Iranian intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi for the first time openly spoke about the possibility of exchanging the detainees. “We expect that the Americans, who claim to respect human rights, would respect human rights as we do, before we can discuss whether an exchange should take place or not,” he told reporters.