Iran urges US to free detainees after hiker released

After Iran released one of the three hikers it held in custody under accusation of spying, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appealed to the US for the release of its eight Iranian prisoners "illegally detained" in the states. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her hope that there will be "some effort inside Iran, by responsible civil and religious leaders to take hold of the apparatus of the state." In answering Mrs. Clinton, Ahmadinejad said that she should consider her words before speaking. He then went on to tell ABC news that the US should make a "humanitarian gesture," and release its Iranian prisoners. Two other hikers are still in Iranian custody, scheduled to be tried as spies.

By Szymon Kesek