Trial of three US spies postponed
Iranian Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei says the trial of the three US spies has been postponed until the freed national is summoned.
“Today, I heard that the date of the trial has been postponed, in which case, the [American] national (Sarah Shourd), who was released must be summonsed and the three be put on trial,” Mohseni-Ejei said at a Monday press conference.
“A date had been set to deal with the cases of the other two [American nationals]; but the fault the Judiciary found [with this arrangement was] whether or not the freed [American] national has been summoned and apparently she has not been summoned,” ISNA quoted Mohseni-Ejei as saying.
Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer were originally expecting their trial to begin on November 6. A new trial date has not been announced yet.
The three US citizens were arrested after illegally entering Iran from neighboring Iraq in 2009.
Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi later pressed espionage charges against the three, after finding “compelling evidence” that they had been cooperating with US intelligence agencies.
Sarah Shourd, one of the three US nationals, was released on bail of USD 500,000 in September, 14 months after her arrest.
Iran said the decision was made on humanitarian grounds.
The US has detained several Iranian nationals on charges of violating the US-imposed sanctions against Iran.
Contrary to the harsh treatment of Iranians in US custody, the three American detainees have been treated well despite the fact that they face very serious charges.
