A delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders returned to the United States from Iran hoping that their six-day visit will improve relations between the two squabbling countries in a way that diplomatic channels have not. The four-member delegation, which included Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, also hoped to be accompanied on the return home Sept. 19 by a pair of American hikers still being incarcerated by Iranian authorities on charges of espionage and entering Iran illegally, but was sidetracked because a judge who could approve their release was on vacation.
Addressing reporters at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington upon the delegation’s return, Cardinal McCarrick said the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal was imminent. He said he planned to call the mothers of the hikers as soon as he could get to a telephone to assure them that “their sons are on the way, so hang in there.” Bauer, 29, and Fattal, 29, began serving an eight-year prison sentence in August after being accused of being CIA agents and convicted of the charges in a trial. Negotiations with the Iranian judiciary for their release moved ahead as the delegation met Sept. 13-18 with Iranian religious and government leaders including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The judge who could sign off on the deal was expected to return to work Sept. 20. A third hiker, Sarah Shourd, Bauer’s fiancee, also was arrested as the Americans hiked along the unmarked mountainous Iran-Iraq border July 31, 2009. She was released in September 2010 for humanitarian reasons by the Iranian government.
WASHINGTON (CNS)