Blog 2

Sep 10, 9:26 PM EDT

Iran postpones American woman's release

By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press Writer

Iran to Free American Hiker for Holiday Clemency
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran on Friday postponed the planned release of an American woman jailed along with two friends for more than a year, state media reported, dealing a blow to the hopes of three U.S. mothers who have pleaded for the trio's freedom.

Iranian officials had said that Sarah Shourd, who was detained with her friends near Iran's border with Iraq, would be released on Saturday. But the IRNA state news agency quoted the deputy chief of communication for the Iranian president's office, Mohammed Hassan Salilhimaram, as saying that would not happen.

He said details of the decision would be announced later, but Tehran's chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, blamed the fact that "judicial procedures have not been done," according to the semiofficial ILNA news agency.

It was the latest in a series of mixed messages from Tehran in a case that has deepened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, a relationship already strained over Washington's suspicions that Tehran is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons - something Iran denies.

Shourd and two friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009, and Tehran has accused them of illegally crossing the border and spying. Their families say they were hiking in Iraq's scenic north and that if they crossed the border, they did so unwittingly.

The U.S. State Department and relatives said they had no immediate information about the reports.

The announcement of the delay came hours after state media reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had personally intervened to secure Shourd's release as an act of clemency in part because of the "special viewpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the dignity of women."

Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the last-minute quarrels over Shroud's release highlight the internal fissures in Iran's power structure between Ahmadinejad and others such as the prosecutor who could see him overreaching his authority.

"There are all kinds of internal pressures," he said. "A case like this shows there are various factions at play."

A judicial official close to the prosecutor's office said that Dolatabadi believes the release is unacceptable because Shourd should first stand before the court and then the amnesty will be granted.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Shourd's name was not among the official list of prisoners freed at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, suggesting that prosecutors want the Americans to first face trial before any kind of pardon or clemency is considered.
Typically, inmates released during Ramadan have already been convicted.

In some recent cases of high-profile foreigners jailed and released in Iran, authorities have first conducted trials and issued sentences.

In May, a French academic, Clotilde Reiss, was freed after her 10-year sentence on espionage-related charges was commuted. American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was convicted of spying before being released in May 2009.

Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari of Newsweek was freed on $300,000 bail in October 2009 after nearly four months detention following the crackdown after the disputed presidential election. He was later sentenced in absentia to more than 13 years in prison and 50 lashes.

In 2007, Iran released 15 British sailors without a trial after being held for nearly two weeks for allegedly crossing into Iran along its river border with Iraq. Some were paraded on television to deliver confessions for trespassing.

The delay in Shourd's release is sure to further fuel concerns over her health, which her family has said is deteriorating.

The 31-year-old has been held in solitary confinement, and her mother has said she's been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

Shourd's planned release had provided a long-sought sign of hope to the Americans' families, who have been pleading with Iranian officials to free their children since their arrest.

Now, they are once again left wondering what is going to happen.

"We don't know anything," said Samantha Topping, a New York publicist working with the families. She said the families knew only what they were hearing from media about a delayed release.
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Associated Press writer Brian Murphy contributed to this report from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_US_HIKERS?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I chose this piece to talk about because I thought in general women are oppressed, but when you come up against a country that believes that women are a possession then we have some real problems. The Women in this piece were hiking from all accounts I for one would not know that I had crossed over into another country if it were me unless someone had told me. So I can say that I understand that they did not know what they had gotten themselves into. I am sure that on the mountain aren't any signs that state "hey another step and your in Iran or Iraq so watch where your steeping". I know that if there were signs considering that we don't want to have any issues with this country at this time I am sure they would not have gone over.

I just have a few questions. If this were a men would our country fight harder to get them home or at least some medical attention? I have heard of different situations where they have made some moves to get people out of a communist country. So why cant they do that in this situation? Do they want to wait for these women to be convicted to death or something? I am just a little curious. I can say that if the pictures are correct these are white women so at least race on the surface is not playing a part of this. I say on the surface because the people that are holding these women may have some type of prejudice against whites.

Do you think that in some way these women have offended someone and the man in charge feels they need to pay some cost? I am no sure, but I have to say that it caught my attention. That today in 2010 we still have men that are unwilling to see that they are oppressing women.

I feel very frustrated by the lack of action on our part as Americans, but who do we talk to. One of the women is in need of medications that are being denied her. She needs those to live. Why aren't we doing something? I know that we are in talks and that we want to avoid problems if we can, but this is something that could be easily handled I think. Let them go.

How could they be considered spy's? Were they on some watch list any where that says these women or women in general are all spy's. Sounds crazy I know, but no more crazy than these people who are holding these women without a trail and they are unwilling to give them medical treatment. So it is more than likely that they are not on any list of spy's, but they are American and that is seen as the enemy.

Funny how other countries stereotype us in the same manner that we stereotype people that we feel in less than us. Some countries view Americans a dogs. That they are lazy, thieves and good for nothing. Yet this is where they send there family members to establish business or to get an education to come back home and be of service to their people. It is very frustrating. I put the web page in my text so others can go on a see the interview that is listed.