IRAQ: Three American hikers held in Iran made a 'mistake'

An account posted on the website of Mother Jones aims to shed light on the questions of how and why three American hikers in Iraq's Kurdistan region ended up straying across the border into Iran, where they have been in detention for the last week.

Written by Shon Meckfessel, the fourth member of the group who stayed behind at their hotel because he had a cold, it says the trio had no idea the beauty spot they were visiting was close to the border.

The three, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, certainly did not intend to wander into Iran, and are guilty of nothing more than "a simple and very regrettable mistake," he writes.

"While going there might seem strange to Americans, the Kurdish territory is actually very beautiful and quite safe. Since the Kurds gained their autonomy there in 1992, no American has ever been harmed there," he writes.

Many Kurds in the town of Sulaymaniya recommended that they visit a waterfall at Ahmed Awa, without mentioning that there was a risk of crossing into Iran, Meckfessel says. But he acknowledges that those Kurds may not have been aware the group planned to hike through the area, and not simply visit the waterfall.

Meckfessel raised the alarm after Bauer called him from his cellphone July 31 to say they had been surrounded by armed men and were being taken into custody.

This week, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran is still trying to figure out how the three came to be in Iran, and why.

"The news is so contradictory that we, just like you, don't know what the truth is," the spokesman, Hasan Qashqavi, said on state-run radio.

But many Iranians are likely to be highly suspicious about the appearance on Iranian soil of three Americans, at a time when the government is accusing Western countries of fomenting the protests against June's disputed presidential election results.

Writing in Iran's Javan newspaper Tuesday, commentator Mehdi Shakibi asked whether the trio might not have been dispatched "to work directly against the national security of the Islamic Republic regime."

"Are the arrested American subjects terrorists who have entered Iran illegally under the mask of tourists in an attempt to gather information and commit acts against our security?" he asked.

-- Liz Sly in Baghdad

Photo: Undated image of Shane Bauer. Bauer, a freelance journalist and his girlfriend Sarah Shourd, and a third companion, Joshua Fattal apparently illegally crossed the border from Iraq into Iran and are being held by authorities in Iran. Credit: AP

Comments

[mike kaelin]

At first I thought the 3 hikers were stupid or extremely naive. Now i don't think so. All are well educated, and one speaks fluent Arabic.
Here is my theory: There are some travelers (hikers) that are turned on by dangerous adventures in dangerous places, including unmarked borders. I have done it myself.
As journalists, I am sure they would have attracted some great copy in the travel-adventure mags.

[Andy Hughes]

I reckon they are spies, who goes on holiday to Iraq?

[dontgetit]

First I have heard of this. I don't care what your "major" is in college. Pick a new one. I don't care if it is the Kurdish part of Iraq. WE ARE IN A WAR THERE. THERE ARE OTHER PLACES IN THE WORLD TO HIKE.

Yeah, I hope they return safely. But my God. To be that completely dumb and clueless for travelling there in the first place.........it is really hard to feel sorry for them.

[Xtian]

To "Jorge"

The illegals being raped and tortured trying to gain access to our country are being raped and tortured by their own people, not while in custody of the US government. There may be some odd incidents of abuse by illegals on the part of law enforcement here and there, which happens in all countries (and especially in Latin American), but it is not systematic. I defy you to show proof of anything different.

The sad truth is when people decide to enter the United States illegally, they are putting their own lives in the hands of the criminal enterprises that seek to profit from their vunerablity. Border enforcement actually protects the lives of illegal aliens. Prior to our enforcement of border control at the actual border, the border areas were a no man's land where rape and murder were common. Now that only happens on the Mexican side.

[Kristian]

If you are traveling in Iraq and you are not acutely aware of your surroundings and where exactly you are at on a map, at ALL times, you are just wrong.

[Dolce]

No pitty here.. "ignorance of the law does not excuse" no matter what country you are in.... i wish them a speedy trial & good luck

[STC]

It is really sad that people can't tour areas with-out having this be a risk. And the fact that most of the other comments here are saying keep their asses there is terrible. That could have been anyone and happen anywhere! How would you feel if you were detained in a foreign country for almost 2 months? I think it was an honest mistake and i truly hope to see them come home soon!

[Pat Ciara]

What is wrong with these nitwits? Why don't we go skiing in North Korea? What's wrong with backpacking in Wisconsin? I cannot believe these three people are this stupid. Now, their families are going to expect the U.S. to spend dollars, resources, favors, whatever to ask for their release. I say, let their sorry asses stay in jail for a while.

[Concerned]

Maybe if they taught geography at Berkley instead of ideology this would not have happened. The fact of the matter is this... These types of Americans give Americans a bad name. I have worked in the Middle East for a long time and I have learned that there are reasons for cultural restrictions and you should follow them. Traveling around in the mountains between Iran and Iraq without a local guide is a fool’s mission. The mine fields alone would make the most skilled Special Forces operative cringe ... yet three pretentious Berkley grads think they can tiptoe through the tulips and nothing will happen to them. It is this type of thinking that makes the rest of the world hate Americans.

[no mistake]

The Iran/Kurdistan border is a war zone, involving the Iranian military and the Kurdish terrorist group PJAK.

Three recent precedents are relevant here:

(1) The capture of "enemy combatants" by the US military in Afghanistan, and their indefinite detention at Guantanimo. (At least one of which was a journalist for Aljazeera)

(2) The roundup and detention of Iraqi citizens by the US Military, as suspected terrorists, to be held indefinitely at prisons such as Abu Ghraib. (The number of those held is in the tens of thousands)

(3) The arrest of five Iranian diplomats at the Iranian consulate in Kurdistan, who were held for over two years by the US Military. The diplomats were accused of spying.

[Ali]

when we Iranians want to enter America, even with a valid U.S visa, the officers do almost a humiliating job to us. they question us as they please, and also they can keep you somewhere unknown without any reason. so, now one should ask, where are these highly moral people to complain to their own officials (in their presumably free land) for such an act of harassment? does it mean that these people get moralized just for their own people?

Now, I see Americans are moralizing an ILLEGAL entry (again an illegal one) to Iran. Those have to pay the price of their illegal action.

[Jorge]

A mistake, just like ignorance of the law, is not an excuse. Pushing the envelope might be O.K. in some parts of the world, but not in one that is as volatile and violent as Iraq and Iran. The "journalists" caught in NK supposedly made another mistake, but mistakes have consequences and for Iranians is payback time. The U.S. imprisoned "diplomatic personnel" for months in less than humanitarian conditions and now it's stupid to ask for quarters, when you don't give any. They might be in better hands than the so called "illegals" under the Bush regime. Some of those "illegals" were raped, tortured and only God knows what else and some of those were children, which in turn, indicates how low are moral standards have fallen.

[ForcaBarca]

There is no use moralizing the issue. Without regard to the intentions of the 3 hikers, the fact is that the 3 hikers ought to have taken extreme precaution in approaching the Kurdistan -Iran border. Laura Ling and Euna Lee's case set the precedent to take precaution whilst approaching a hostile country's border. Why did not these 3 take the necessary precautions? Now, there will be another long, drawn out bleatings about the Iranian state. The fact of the matter is that Iran is a prickly character, and needed a small excuse to antagonize the United States.