Americans’ trial postponed in Iran
Spokesman says one hasn’t been summoned
TEHRAN, Iran – The start of the trial of three Americans charged with spying on Iran has been postponed because one of them has not been summoned to return to the country to appear in court, Iran’s judiciary spokesman said Monday.
Sarah Shourd, 32, was freed on bail in September after nearly 14 months in a Tehran prison and returned to the United States. Her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and their friend Josh Fattal remain in prison. Their trial was expected to begin on Saturday.
The three Americans were reportedly hiking in July 2009 in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region near the Iranian border, when Iranian forces took them into custody and accused them of intentionally crossing over.
The initial accusation of illegal border crossing was later raised to espionage charges. The U.S. government says the three are innocent.
In announcing the postponement, spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi said Shourd hasn’t yet been legally summoned.
Bauer’s and Fattal’s families issued a statement saying they had heard nothing officially about a delay.
Earlier, Iran warned that it will seize the $500,000 bail posted by Shourd if she does not return for trial.
Shourd, who has not disclosed any plans to return to Iran, said in an interview published Sunday in the New York Times that the three stepped off an unmarked dirt road and inadvertently crossed from Iraq only because a border guard of unknown nationality gestured for them to approach.
Shourd told the newspaper that she wanted to correct the gathering false impression, fueled by a classified U.S. military report made public by WikiLeaks, as well as earlier American and British news reports, that the trio was detained inside Iraq and forced across the border.