U.S. B-Day Tweet to Ahmadinejad: Free the Hikers
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's spokesman sent a birthday greeting to the president of Iran, who turned 54 this week.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley urged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to send American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer home.
In a tweet sent Friday on Ahmadinejad's birthday, Crowley said, "Happy birthday President Ahmadinejad. Celebrate by sending Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer home. What a gift that would be."
Fattal, Bauer and a third American, Sarah Shourd, were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 while hiking near the border of Iran and Iraq. Fattal and Bauer are still being held and are scheduled to stand trial in November on spying charges.
The Iranians freed Shourd last month on $500,000 bail.
Shortly after the first tweet to Ahmadinejad, Crowley added a second: "Your 54th year was full of lost opportunities. Hope in your 55th year you will open #Iran to a different relationship with the world."
There was no immediate response from the Iranian president.