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Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer were arrested after illegally entering Iran from neighboring Iraq back in 2009. The trio was later charged with espionage.
Iran released Shourd on September 14, 2010 after a bail of $500,000 was paid. Iranian officials described Shourd’s release as a goodwill gesture and a decision made on humanitarian grounds.
In a recent interview with some media in the UN, Shourd along with some family members of the other two US nationals made allegations in connection with the treatment they received in Iran.
In a statement, Iran’s UN delegation denied the allegations, saying that Shourd’s confirmation on numerous occasions in the past that she witnessed high standards of welfare and ethics during her stay in Iran was in clear contradiction with her allegations after her release.
It said that the changes in Shourd’s claims about the mistreatment of the US nationals “give the impression that she might be under political pressures to come up with such unrealistic allegations.”
The statement said that in an interview with the Associated Press on September 24, 2010 Shourd said that Bauer’s asking her to marry him as well as the celebration of her 32nd birthday in Iran have been some of the happiest days of her life.
On December 7, 2010, the CNN website also published an article in which Shourd had said that while she was in Evin prison in Iran she received flowers from a female guard twice, who gave her hope of freedom, the statement added.
Iran’s UN mission went on to say that the two US nationals currently held in Tehran have had at least four occasions of consular contact and visited their first degree family members. They have also made several phone conversations and received books and letters from their families.
It added that Iran’s Judiciary will look into the case of the detainees, reiterating that the body will make decisions without politicizing the case.
The statement also condemned US mistreatment of detained Iranian citizens, including Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan.
It said that several of the Iranian detainees, who were detained under false allegations, were in critical health conditions and were denied their very basic needs, including consular access.
“Up until now, US authorities have not come up with any convincing information clarifying the situation of the Iranian citizens held in US custody,” it added.
The delegation called on the United Nations to play an effective role to help remove the obstacles to Iranian citizens’ consular contacts and to clarify their fate.
