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Witness History: Freeing American prisoners from Iran

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28/02/2020 GMT

Freeing American prisoners from Iran

BBC World Service - Witness History, Freeing American prisoners from Iran

The diplomacy behind the release of three US citizens who unknowingly hiked into Iran.

The high-stakes diplomacy behind the release of three US citizens who hiked across an unmarked border into Iran while they were on holiday.

In 2009, three American hikers were arrested and jailed after they crossed an unmarked border into Iran while on holiday in Iraqi Kurdistan. Sarah Shourd was released first and fought a long campaign to get her friends Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal released from prison in Teheran. Their freedom was eventually brokered by diplomats from Oman – opening up a diplomatic channel between Iran and the US which was later used in their nuclear negotiations. Sarah Shourd talks to Simon Watts.

PHOTO: Sarah Shourd, centre, with the mothers of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal (Getty Images)

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