NEW YORK — The mothers of three American hikers plan to leave Tuesday for Teheran, where they say they will appeal to Iranian leaders to release their children from prison.
Cindy Hickey, Nora Shourd and Laura Fattal arrived in New York Sunday after receiving visas last week.
The mothers said Monday they were grateful to Iran for issuing the travel documents and called it "an encouraging development." The mothers said they were overjoyed that they would soon be able to hug their children, but were afraid they would be returning home without them.
Hickey's son, Shane Bauer, his girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, and their friend Josh Fattal were arrested along the Iraqi border last July and accused by Iran of spying. Relatives and the US government have denied the accusations.
