Iran has charged three detained US citizens with spying, the official IRNA news agency quoted a judiciary official as saying today.
Shane Bauer (27), Sarah Shourd (31) and Josh Fattal (27) crossed into Iran from northern Iraq at the end of July. Their families and US officials say they strayed across the border accidentally.
"We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever," US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said on a visit to Berlin today.
"The three are charged with espionage. Investigations continue into the three detained Americans in Iran," Tehran general prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told IRNA.
Under Iran's Islamic sharia law, espionage is punishable by death.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested in an interview with the US television network NBC in September that the Americans' release might be linked to the release of Iranian diplomats he said were being held by US troops in Iraq.
The United States has sent strong messages to Iran urging the release of the three hikers, calling Iranian authorities to exercises "compassion" towards the three Americans.
Some Iranian authorities have linked the illegal entry to unrest that broke out after Iran's June presidential election.
Mr Ahmadinejad's re-election on June 12th sparked Iran's worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Authorities deny vote-rigging and portrayed the unrest as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the Islamic state.
Mr Dolatabadi said the case of a Danish student, arrested during a rally on November 4th to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy, was under investigation.
"This accused Danish citizen has introduced himself as a reporter but he holds no official press accreditation. Investigations about him continue," he said. "Today the Danish embassy lawyer was allowed to meet the prisoner."
Police clashed with supporters of Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran last Wednesday when they used the anti-US rallies to revive protests against the clerical establishment after June's vote.
Reuters