MINNEAPOLIS — The mothers of three American hikers held in Iran said they collected their visas Wednesday and hope to travel to Tehran by early next week to visit their children in prison.
Nora Shourd told The Associated Press that the family of 27-year-old Josh Fattal picked up the travel documents from the Iranian interest section in Washington, D.C., so the visas are "finally in our hands."
"We're really over-the-top excited about this," Shourd said. "I can barely breathe this morning. We've waited for this so long. And it's going to be wonderful to see these kids, absolutely wonderful."
Shourd's daughter, Sarah, 31, has been held with Fattal and Shane Bauer, 27, since the three were arrested along the Iraqi border in July.
Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey of rural Pine City, Minn., said the families need to coordinate a number of things before they can leave, hopefully early by next week. She said visas were granted to her; to Shourd, of Oakland, Calif.; and to Laura Fattal, of suburban Philadelphia.
Aside from visiting their children, the three plan to meet with the Iranian attorney they hired months ago along with the Swiss ambassador in Iran. Swiss diplomats have visited the hikers in prison since the U.S. has no official presence in Iran.
The mothers have also requested meetings with Iranian authorities but don't know if they'll get them, Hickey said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed th... >>>
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