Captive hikers get trial date in Iran

TEHRAN, June 20 (UPI) -- The trial of two American hikers who strayed into Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan will begin on the second anniversary of their arrest, their lawyer said.

"I've just received an official notification that says the ... trial will be on July 31 in the morning, which is exactly the anniversary of their arrest in the Iran-Iraq border two years ago," attorney Massoud Shafii said in a Los Angeles Times report Monday.

The hikers, Joshua Fattal, and Shane Bauer, are charged with espionage. They have been in Evin Prison in the foothills of Tehran's Alborz mountain range since they were detained.

U.S. citizen Sarah Shourd was with the hikers when they were arrested in 2009. She was freed on $500,000 bail in September 2010 and continues to fight for their release, the report said.

The detention of Fattal and Bauer has increased friction between the United States and Iran, observers say.

A political dissident held at Evin with the hikers said he ran into Fattal once as they were using the shower.

"I whispered in English, 'Do not worry, you will be exchanged soon,'" said the dissident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Josh got happy and we shook hands warmly. Now, I am out and he is still in. I do hope both will be out."

Shafii said Iran didn't require Shroud to return to Iran for the trial.

"It gives me the hint and hope that the hikers might be released on that day," Shafii said.