Iraq’s foreign minister pressed the Iranian envoy to Baghdad for details on the three American hikers detained on July 31 as they crossed from northern Iraq into Iran, the AP reports.  The hikers, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal are all recent graduates from the University of California, Berkeley.  Bauer claimed in a phone call that they crossed the remote Kurdish border by accident, reported The Daily Californian.

The three stand accused of spying, which their associates firmly deny.  Bauer is a Middle East-based  photojournalist who freelances for Mother Jones, though the publication denies his travel to Iran was an assignment for them.

Clara Jeffery, editor of Mother Jones, tweeted updates:

ClaraJeffery (San Francisco, CA): Iraq presses #Iran on detained hikers, including MoJo contrib Shane Bauer http://tinyurl.co/nlp48c Tortured diplomacy on this one

ClaraJeffery (San Francisco, CA): 3 American hikers, incl MoJo contrib Shane Bauer, moved to Tehran, pre-trial commish Sunday. http://tinyurl.com/n6mqd3 #iranelection

Others reacted as well:

rpgfrank (AZ): who goes hiking in Iran or Iraq?? Really?? What the Grand Cannon not grand enough 4 you? Good they got caught..i hope they learned a lesson

reidontravel: @carlhancock I heard from someone who was near Iraq/Iran border there that it’s very confusing on the ground. Dunno.

tonytrainor: VIDEO: Shane Bauer, 1/3 US backpackers detained in #Iran, featured on Link TV’s Democracy Now http://tinyurl.com/mt4u44 (expand)

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