The future is unclear for Americans detained in Iran

by Phil Picardi, Minnesota Public Radio

The two Americans sentenced over the weekend to eight years in an Iranian prison plan to appeal their conviction.

Minnesota native Shane Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal were convicted of espionage and entering Iran illegally. The conviction came more than two years after Bauer and Fattal were arrested while hiking along the Iran/Iraq border. A third hiker, Sarah Shourd, was released on bail last year, and left the country.

William Beeman, an expert in U.S./Iranian relations and chair of the anthropology department at the University of Minnesota, discusses with Minnesota Public Radio's Phil Picardi what will happen next.

Broadcast Dates

• Morning Edition, 08/22/2011, 7:20 a.m.