Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki did not say when proceedings would begin or specify the charge other than to say the Americans had ”suspicious aims.” In November, however, authorities accused the Americans of spying.
”They will be tried by Iran’s judiciary system and verdicts will be issued,” Mottaki said at a news conference, without elaborating in detail.
At a Nov. 9 news conference, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran’s judiciary would deal with the Americans, and he noted that Iran accuses the United States of holding several of its citizens.
In particular, he drew a link between the case of the three Americans and the trial in the U.S. of Amir Hossein Ardebili, an Iranian who faces up to 140 years in prison after pleading guilty to plotting to ship sensitive U.S. military technology to Iran.
