Iran angrily rejects ‘hostage’ claims by released US hikers

IRAN yesterday denied accusations by two freed US hikers who said Tehran had used them as “hostages” in its power struggle with the West, local media reported.

“The comments made by the two are contrary to reality. We had foreseen them saying so, and regardless of when we released them they would have said such things against Iran,” Iran’s prosecutor-general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal on Sunday accused the Islamic republic of using them as “hostages” in its power struggle.