Iran: Three U.S. hikers were spying

TEHRAN, May 24 (UPI) -- Three U.S. hikers who crossed into Iran from Iraq were involved in a spy operation, Iranian intelligence officials said.

Joshua Felix Fattal, 27, Shane Michael Bauer, 27, and Sarah Emily Shourd, 31, have been held in an Iranian prison since their arrest July 31 in the western Iranian district of Marivan.

They were charged with espionage, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said.

"It is clear that the three Americans are spies," Moslehi told reporters Sunday adding there have been no talks of a prisoner swap, as of yet.

As a humanitarian gesture, Iran allowed Fattal, Bauer and Shourd to meet with their mothers, who traveled from the United States to Iran last week, Fars News Agency reported Monday.

"We expect the Americans, who claim to be advocates of human rights, to also commit humanitarian acts, because only after this can we decide on whether or not to have a (prisoner) swap," Moslehi said.