Ahmadinejad asks US to release ‘illegally arrested’ Iranians

Ahmadinejad did not provide details of the eight Iranians he said were being held by the US.

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.

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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.

Ahmadinejad,who is here to attend the UN General Assembly,said the cases of detained Americans are in the hands of the Iranian judicial system.

“They violated the law,” he said. “Do you want violators to be released. Is that what you’re asking me?”

Ahmadinejad did not provide details on the identity of the eight Iranians he said were being held by the US. But Iranian media have said the US has detained around a dozen

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Iranians,including some in other countries at Washington’s request.

In an earlier interview,US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she is “grateful and appreciative that Sarah was released and want to see not only her two compatriots but other Americans who are held without cause released as well.”