Three Americans Arrested At Iran Border

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Three US citizens, Sara Short, Joshua Steel, and Shane Bower were arrested as they inadvertently crossed over an unmarked border from Kurdistan into Iran.


Iran’s Al-Alam Television has confirmed the identity of the three hikers who were warned by local citizens not to descend the east side of the mountain range into Iranian territory.

The Iranian government has declared the crossing as a “threat to national security” despite the fact that the area is unmarked and generally unmanned.

Local residents state that they cannot determine exactly where the border is either since it is unmarked but they have also been warned not to cross into Iran. It appears that the actual border is an arbitrary line determined at the discretion of local Iranian troops.


The fourth member of the hiking group, US citizen Shaun Gabriel-Maxwell, stayed behind at their hotel due to illness. After calling Maxwell on their cell phone to tell him they had been arrested by the Iranians, Maxwell alerted the US Embassy in Iraq who then arranged to Maxwell away from the area.

A representative for the US embassy in Baghdad said; “We’ve seen the reports regarding this incident and are investigating but we can’t confirm anything at this time.”

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