Iranian official: No deal on us hikers

BAGHDAD - The Iranian ambassador in Baghdad said the recent release of two Iranians from Iraqi custody does not indicate an impending deal to free three Americans held by Teheran on spying charges.

Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi said the fate of the Americans, who have been held since July, is in the hands of the Iranian judiciary and has no connection to the release of two Iranians earlier this month.

The detained Americans, Sarah Shourd, 31, her boyfriend Shane Bauer, 27, and their friend Josh Fattal, 27, were arrested along the Iraqi border. Iran has accused them of espionage, but their families say the three were hiking in northern Iraq's mountainous Kurdish region and if they strayed into Iran, it was unintentional.