Hillary On Three American Hikers in Iranian Custody
By Bronwyn's Harbor on August 3, 2009 at 3:12 PM in Current Affairs
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken publicly about the three young Americans who, according to reports, inadvertantly crossed the Iranian/Kurdish border while hiking and were reportedly arrested by Iranian officials. (In my conclusion, I have a few comments about these three hikers who were warned not to hike the mountains.)
Since most news reports omit descriptions or a name of the mountains, I performed a search and found another A.P. story, “Iran state TV confirms arrest of 3 America,” that identifies the “Azmar mountains north of the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Sulaimaniyah.” This A.P. story also points out that the “borders are mountainous and not clearly marked, making them popular smuggling routes for centuries.The trio of hikers “mistakenly crossed into Iranian territory Friday while hiking in a mountainous area near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa.” (See map below.) First, here’s a MSNBC video:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Via the Associated Press story, “Clinton seeks info from Iran on missing hikers,” are more of Secretary Clinton’s remarks:
WASHINGTON -Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appealed to Iran on Monday for information about three missing Americans believed to have been arrested by Iranian authorities last week on an ill-fated hiking trip in northern Iraq.
Clinton said that Swiss diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iran are asking officials from the Iranian Foreign Ministry for details but have not yet gotten official confirmation of the trio’s arrest. She asked that Iran determine the facts of the case and to “return them as quickly as possible.”
“As of a few hours ago, we did not yet have official confirmation that the Iranian government or an instrument of the Iranian government were holding the three missing Americans … We asked our Swiss partners … to please pursue our inquiries to determine the status of the three missing Americans.”
“Obviously, we are concerned,” Clinton said. “We want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible and we call on the Iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing Americans and return them as quickly as possible.”
A Kurdish official said the three contacted a colleague to say they had entered Iran by mistake on Friday and were surrounded by troops. Iran’s state television later said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards.
The Examiner.com’s article, “Iran arrests 3 American hikers crossing border into Iranian Kurdistan -updated,” has a great map of the area, with the approximate location of the hikers’ route in a boxed area:
My Comments: I realize that young adults often think they’re indestructible but, at the least, they should have hired a guide, if there is one available, who knew the mountains well and where the borders are. That said, it was unwise to hike in mountains that have poorly marked borders and which criminals like smugglers frequent.
Secretary Clinton, the State Department, the Swiss and other diplomats already have too much on their plates, and the need to aid these three young hikers is consuming invaluable time that should be spent on pressing matters of foreign policy.
Furthermore, the hikers were WARNED not to hike in the area, according to the Examiner.com’s article:
Shwan Mohammed of the Jakarta Globe reports the Americans were warned not to hike in the mountainous terrain where they were arrested because the Iranian border was very close.
His report continues "Beshro Ahmed, media adviser for the General Security Department in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, said the two men and a woman had entered Kurdistan from Turkey earlier along with a fourth American who did not join the trek because he was ill.
Ahmed named the three as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel, while Shaun Gabriel Maxwell stayed behind in their hotel in the autonomous Kurdish region’s second largest city of Sulaimaniyah.
Kurdistan is a tourism area, complete with its own website: Kurdistan Tourism The area covers parts of eastern Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran which is where the hikers apparently got lost and crossed the border.
So, what’s your opinion of these three?
Do you think Iran will hold them for long?
Is there any advantage for Iran if they choose to hold the three?
Do you think the Swiss have the clout to get them freed?
How much financial responsibility do these three have for the efforts by the U.S. and other governments to get them freed?
These are just a few of the questions that occurred to me while I was writing this post. Please add your own.
by Ronald Scott
* More novels by 
* 
(
)
- You'll have access to 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, as well as ultra-fast Web browsing with Amazon Silk -- faster than iPad. Full e-mail and document access and a keyboard. Fire can transmit what is on your screen onto a connected TV or monitor without an accessory. It runs Flash (iPad doesn't). 
