Reuters
Detained Americans Shane Bauer, left, and Joshua Fattal smile as they wait to meet their mothers at the Esteghlal hotel in Tehran, in this May 21, 2010 file pictur
TEHRAN — Two Americans, Shane M. Bauer and Joshua F. Fattal, who have been detained in Iran for more than two years, have been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison, Iranian state television reported on Saturday, a verdict that will further strain already poor relations with Washington.
“In connection with illegal entry into Iranian territory each was given three years in jail and in connection with the charge of cooperating with American intelligence service, each was given five years in jail,” the IRINN Web site said, quoting an informed judiciary source. The two men have 20 days to appeal, the Web site said.
Mr. Bauer and Mr. Fattal were arrested on July 31, 2009 near Iran’s border with Iraq, along with a third American, Sarah E. Shourd, who was freed on $500,000 bail in September 2010 and returned home.
The trio, in their late 20s and early 30s, say they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq and, if they crossed the unmarked border into Iran, it was by mistake.
The affair has compounded tension between Tehran and Washington, which have had no diplomatic relations since the storming of the American Embassy after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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