Next time you go traipsing around Iraq's Kurdistan, make sure you bring a map and stay far away from the Iranian border. Today, American diplomats with the help of Swiss officials are trying to locate three missing Americans who went hiking in Iraq's Kurdish region and accidentally crossed an unmarked border with Iran.
Iranian TV says the three have been accused of illegally entering Iran. The Swiss, who represent the US interests in Iran since there are no formal relations, met with officials in Tehran today, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave reporters her two cents back in the US:
"We call on the Iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing Americans and return them as quickly as possible."
The three missing hikers, who have lived in Western Europe and the Middle East, are being described by friends as "fiercely intellectual" individuals with "wanderlust for travel." I hope they get out of their latest adventure alive.
Source: Flicker User kurdistan كوردستان
6ixty 8ight
Hafize Ozbudak
Moncler
adventurous isnt the word I would use to describe them.
1Nope. They are in for a very rude awakening--especially the female in the group.
2seriously, how stupid. they may be "fiercely intellectual" but maybe that means they didn't pull their noses out of their books long enough to gain some common sense.
3LOL @ all the posts above. I cannot agree with all of you more.
4I'm with the comments above. I feel bad for them and all, but seriously? This shows such a lack of forethought it's unbelievable.
5The actions of the Iranian government are xenophobic and inexcusable. So far they've gone as far as labeling the three travelers as spies for the CIA--obviously BS, and worryingly reminiscent of what happened earlier this year with Roxanna Saberi (except she was an actual citizen of Iran living in Iran, whose only crimes were purchasing a bottle of wine and being a US citizen), and strikingly similar to the case of Euna Lee and Laura Ling who are still currently detained in a work camp by the DPRK for crossing an unmarked territorial boundary on a journalistic assignment.
The three travelers (including Sarah Shourd, who is a contributor to the excellent Matador Network travel blogs) were hiking, and happened upon a similar unmarked boundary, and are now being used as pawns by the Iranian government, as are Lee and Ling by North Korea.
The whole situation is infuriating.
6Of all the oopses to have while hiking, this is a nasty one. If I'm hiking in a hostile border territory, I'll have a GPS unit GLUED into my hand.
I hope these three make it home. If they're in Evin, their chances aren't that great.
7In addition to these 3 hikers, whatever happened to Euna Lee and Laura Ling? They just disappear into oblivion it seems. Ahh, media, thou art fickle.
8I know nothing about this at all, but i just assumed when I read the headline that they were CIA.
9Exactly. You must not be very intelligent to be an American wandering about the Middle East, you're asking to be taken hostage and/or killed.
10Ah yes, because many people, fueled by mass media sensationalism, don't have a realistic perspective about the state of tourism in the Middle East. According to the popular misconception, if you're not from the Middle East, you have an unreasonably high probability of being snatched up by an errant government or militant group. Right.
11Stupid stupid stupid Americans!
12Imagine if three Iranian hikers were caught crossing American border accidentally you know what would happen? They will be interrogated for months,then probably shipped to Guantanamo bay for having links to Al-qaeda. so why cant Iran do it? I am just saying.
13No I am not from Iran, I am Canadian.
I agree with the last Anonymous. These people are just stupid to go hiking near the border of a country their own country is nearly at war with. The same goes for the two women in North Korea. They all made the choice to be "adventurous" now they should live with it.
If 3 Iranians guys were caught crossing the border with the US without a visa they'd probably be shipped off to Guantanamo.
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