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BAGHDAD – Efforts were under way on Saturday to secure the release of three American hikers who were arrested by Iranian authorities after they crossed the border from Iraq's Kurdish region into Iran, a top Kurdish official said.
Iranian state television confirmed Saturday that the Americans had been detained Friday after they crossed the border from northern Iraq.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. government had asked the Swiss, who represent U.S. interests in Tehran, to seek consular access to the Americans.
Kurdish security officers said that the Americans were students, ages 27 to 36, and that two of them had been studying Arabic in Damascus, Syria. A Kurdish officer identified them as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua. There were conflicting accounts of the third person's last name.
On Friday, the official said, they "trekked into Iranian territory, knowingly or unknowingly, and found themselves detained by the Iranians."
Another hiker was part of the original group but stayed behind Friday and was handed over to U.S. Embassy officials in Baghdad.
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