Families talk to hikers who are held in Iran
All three detainees said they are well
MINNEAPOLIS – Cindy Hickey had rehearsed what she would say to her son when she finally got to talk to him months after he was detained in Iran. When the time came, the conversation lasted only about a minute, she said, “so it was hard to say a lot.”
But Hickey came away from the phone call hopeful that her son, Shane Bauer, and two other Americans held for nearly eight months in Iran will be home soon.
“The next time I hear his voice I’d like it to be in person,” Hickey, of Pine City, Minn., told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The families of Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal also said they received calls Tuesday and all three reported being well. In a statement, the families called the conversations “a tremendous relief.”
Hickey said it was “exciting to hear this voice after not having his condition confirmed for over four months.”
“The first thing he said was: ‘Mom, this is Shane. I love you, I miss you, I’m strong. How are you?’ ” Hickey said. “I answered: ‘I’m strong, I’m determined, it’s not going to end until you’re home.’ ”
The families say Bauer, Shourd, 31, and Fattal, 27, were hiking in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region in July when they accidentally crossed the border into Iran.
Hickey said the last time she talked to her son was about a week before he went on his trip. She said it was an “unexpected call but expected.”
Iran says the three are spies. U.S. officials are calling for the hikers’ release.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Wednesday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called the phone calls a positive development, but said the U.S. was still seeking consular access to the three through the Swiss Embassy.
Switzerland has represented U.S. consular interests in Iran since Washington and Tehran broke off diplomatic relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution. Crowley said the Swiss haven’t had consular access to the detainees since Oct. 29.