Minnesota Mom: Son Is 1 Of 3 Americans Missing In Iran

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The mother of an American freelance journalist missing in Iran says she is concerned for the “safety and welfare” of her son and two other Americans.

Shane Bauer’s mother, Cindy Hickey, says her son is one of the three Americans believed to have been arrested by Iranian authorities last week on a hiking trip in northern Iraq.

Hickey, who lives in Pine City, Minn., said Monday she hopes the three return safely to the U.S. She refused to comment further.

A Kurdish official in Iraq has said the three contacted a colleague to say they had entered Iran by mistake on Friday and were surrounded by troops. Iran’s state television later said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards.

The three Americans are identified below:

—Shane Bauer, from Minnesota, is based in the middle east as a freelance journalist.
—Sarah Shourd, from California, is a writer and teacher based in the Middle East.
—Joshua Fattal, an environmental worker in Oregon, was reportedly curious about his father’s native Iraq.