FILE - This undated file photo, released by freethehikers.org, Aug. 20, 2009, shows Americans Shane Bauer, left, and Sarah Shourd. Iranian state news agency IRNA said Monday, Nov. 9, 2009 that Iran has charged Bauer, Shourd and Josh Fattal with espionage.
TEHRAN, Iran — A senior Iranian prosecutor accused three Americans detained on the border with Iraq of espionage on Monday, the first signal that Tehran intends to put them on trial.
The move could set up the Americans — who relatives say were hiking and strayed across the border from Iraq — as potential bargaining chips in Iran's standoff with the West. The announcement came as Washington and Tehran were maneuvering over a deadlock in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alleged the three crossed Iran's border illegally, saying this was something any country would punish.
"In all countries, crossing borders would have a very heavy sentence, according to the law," he told a news conference in Istanbul before the start of a summit of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference. "Unfortunately, they crossed our borders illegally. We are not happy about that, but there is a law.
"Hopefully, they will have an appropriate answer in the court, and hopefully they will convince the judge that they did not have any intention of crossing the border illegally," Ahmadinejad said.
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