New York, September 19: After releasing an American hiker, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked Washington to respond to Tehran’s “humanitarian gesture” by setting free eight Iranians currently being held in the US.
“It would not be misplaced to ask that the US government should take a humanitarian gesture to release the Iranians who were illegally arrested and detained here in the United States,” Ahmadinejad told ABC’s ‘This Week’ programme in an interview to be broadcast later today.
The Iranian President’s remarks came following the release of hiker Sarah Shourd on Tuesday after 13 months in prison in what Iranian officials have described as a humanitarian gesture because she is said to be in ill health.
Two other Americans with whom she was arrested last year — Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal — are still being held in a Tehran prison on espionage charges.
–Agencies