Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer have been held in Iran since July 31, 2009.
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Mothers Meet With U.S. Hikers Detained In Iran
Emotional video of Elkins Park mother, Laura Fattal meeting with her son, Joshua who has been detained by the Iranian government for nearly ten months. Fattal and two other American hikers are accused of illegally crossing into Iran. Fattal and the other moms are on a humanitarian mission to hopefully help gain the release of their children. . Read more about the emotional meeting and the mission these moms are on to bring their children home.
Reporters were told by text message from the Culture Ministry that they could witness the release at the same hotel where the mothers of all three hikers were allowed to visit their children in May.
"Offering congratulations on Eid al-Fitr,'' the message said referring to the holiday marking the end of the fasting month. "The release of one of the detained Americans will be at Saturday, 9 a.m. at the Estaghlal hotel.''
It is common in the Islamic world to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday by showing clemency and releasing prisoners.
Nora Shourd, the mother of Sarah Shourd, said Thursday morning that the U.S.-based families of the hikers had seen the news reports out of Iran but had no idea if they were true.
"We don't know anything,'' Shourd told the AP. "We're trying like crazy to see what we can find out. I hope it's true -- that's all I can say for sure. But I don't know if it is.''
Sarah, 31, has been asking to be treated for a serious gynecological problem. Last month, she was allowed to call her mother and the two talked very briefly about her health problems. Shourd's mother said Sarah has asked jailers for medical treatment, but said during the phone call, "They won't listen to me."
The hikers -- who all went to college together in California -- are accused of illegally crossing the border into Iran in July of 2009. Their families have always contended that the three "share a love of travel that has taken them to many countries" and that's why they were hiking in the mountains of Kurdistan when they either strayed across the "poorly marked border by mistake or Iranian forces entered Iraq to arrest them."
There was no word on the fate of the Fattal and Shane Bauer, 27, to whom Shourd got engaged to while they were in prison.
