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The Times wrote:TEHRAN, Iran —
Iran said Monday it would try three Americans jailed since crossing the border from Iraq in July, a step certain to aggravate the U.S. at a time when Tehran is locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki did not say when proceedings would begin or specify the charge other than to say the Americans had "suspicious aims." In November, however, authorities accused the Americans of spying.
There are concerns in the U.S. that Iran could use them as bargaining chips in talks over its nuclear program or in seeking the return of Iranians they say are missing.
Relatives and the U.S government say the three were innocent tourists on an adventure hike in northern Iraq and accidentally crossed into Iran, where they were arrested on July 31.
"They will be tried by Iran's judiciary system and verdicts will be issued," Mottaki said at a news conference, without elaborating in detail.
The Americans - Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27 - were detained by Iranian authorities after crossing an unmarked border from northern Iraq.
At a Nov. 9 news conference, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran's judiciary would deal with the Americans, and he noted that Iran accuses the United States of holding several of its citizens.
In particular, he drew a link between the case of the three Americans and the trial in the U.S. of Amir Hossein Ardebili, an Iranian who faces up to 140 years in prison after pleading guilty to plotting to ship sensitive U.S. military technology to Iran.
According to court papers, Ardebili worked as a procurement agent for the Iranian government and acquired thousands of components, including military aircraft parts, night vision devices, communications equipment and Kevlar. U.S. federal authorities targeted him in 2004 after he contacted an undercover storefront set up in Philadelphia to investigate illegal arms trafficking.
Here's What Some Random Time's Editor Thinks About It:
Some Random Time's Editor wrote:This story, about Iran arresting U.S. hikers, is a repeat of a thing that has been going on too long. Here are these three Americans--Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, setting off on a hike in Iraq and walking into Iran and getting arrested for "espionage." I assume they are not spies--would the CIA send people into Iran as hikers?--and that they are in that sense, innocent. I also assume that Iran knows this, and that they are trying them to make a political point and to have leverage with the United States, and that they will convict them and then exchange them for some concession from our government.
What I can't join in is any outpouring of sympathy for Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, and the condemnation of the Iranian government. Iran's government is not the sort I want to live under, but it is not my government. It's their government. It's a government sensitive to its borders--over sensitive from the American point of view, but it is entirely within its rights to arrest Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal and put them on trial.
My annoyance is at Americans who think because they are backed by the most powerful government in the world, and they have Human Rights, they can go for a jolly, healthful and invigorating hike on the Iranian border or on the North Korean border or swim across the lake in Burma to see Aung San Suu Kyi, or cross some other forbidden line. To think and act this way is to be a damn fool, and I think more Americans ought to say so.
To be honest, I think this guy is an idiot who over-simplifies the issue. Iran is using this as an excuse to bully America. Not to sound too arrogant, but no country (except China who basically owns our ass) has any right to bully us. I'll grant you some people may think we're bullying Iraq and Afghanistan by telling their governments they can't enslave their people and blow up civilian buildings, but hey, we're just assholes like that.
If Iran is really so pathetic to use civilian hostages as a means of getting leverage, I think they need a lesson in humility. But of course Obama will buckle like a belt. Damn this ticks me off.
(JUST KIDDING!)
arkyan, amazing play of words 
