Sen. Klobuchar urges Iran to release U.S. hikers

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Monday urged Iran not to use three U.S. hikers detained on charges of espionage as pawns in a game of international politics.

Tehran's leaders insist the group crossed the border into Iran this July to spy on the behalf of the U.S. government, and they have been detained in an Iranian prison for more than 120 days.

But Klobuchar on Monday stressed the hikers -- one of which resides in her home state of Minnesota -- had merely entered the country by mistake, and she demanded Iran heed international calls and release the three Americans immediately.

"As we all know, Iran is in the center of many pressing foreign policy challenges we currently face. I, along with my colleagues, will address those, but Shane, Sarah, and Josh have absolutely nothing to do with these international fights," the senator said during a floor speech on Monday. "They have nothing to do with what is going on in Iran or Iran's differences with other countries."

The White House has previously advocated on behalf of the hikers by way of Swedish diplomats, but efforts to spurn their release have proven most unsuccessful. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains convinced the three U.S. citizens are western spies, and he has recently suggested it is up to his state's court system to make any other determination.

It does not help, though, that the United States remains locked in a political standoff with the Middle Eastern country over its clandestine nuclear program. While that relationship seemed to be warming as recently as October, ahead of a new round of diplomatic talks, Iran's latest signals that it plans to construct more nuclear plants has again frozen progress.

However, Klobuchar on Monday -- as she has in the past -- asserted Iran could curry no favor from the United States by wrongfully detaining its citizens. She also urged at the very least that Iranian leaders permit the three hikers the ability to talk to their families by phone.

"There is no cause for their continued detention, and nothing will be gained by prolonging it any further," Klobuchar said. "Iran's leaders should demonstrate the necessary compassion by immediately releasing Shane, Sarah, and Josh and allowing them to return home to their families."