overstep on to their territory of sort of releasing prisoners. you know, the back room politics in iran are more complicated even than in say hicago, but hopefully what we ll see is the release of this young woman who has been really held unjustly for all this time. can you tell me what iran ins by keeping these three hikers? i mean why not just release all of them? well, remember, this is a panoid regime and it s also a very fractured regime and so in their view, keeping americans hostage is sort of a bargaining chip against the united states. and it s also, frankly, a bargaining chip inside the iranian system, again that these conservative powers use against each other. we can t sortit of look at it a though it were sort of an american situation where we believe in the rule of law. but you know, i mean they ve been there since july 2009. it would seem as if the u.s. does not bgain in a situation to what extent is the u.s. state
like this. department involvednd would that be the group with whom bargaining was done? t the u.s. state department and the entire u.s. government will try to reach out to through every means it can. it will seek out countries which might have influence inside iran to try to get these young folks released, to try to get justice done in their case. that said, there s no bargaining in the sense of sort of trading one thing for another because of course that only encourages further host age taking, the sort of behavior you re trying to discourage. but a very active campaign that will be under way to try to get these young people released. unfortunately, because the iranian system is so difficulne to petrate or comprehend, that is often met with a lack of success. to what extent do you have concerns, if sarah gets out, how does that play into the fate of josh and shane? well, clearly the s. government has been quiet so far. it will probably continue to be