Politics / Tehran Iran Allows Swiss Envoys Visit With Detained Hikers Policy reversal may be gesture of goodwill ahead of nuclear talks By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff Posted Sep 29, 2009 4:10 PM CDT Copied This 2008 photo provided Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 by the Shourd and Bauer families shows Shane Bauer, right, and Sarah Shourd in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Shourd and Bauer families) Iran has changed its policy on three detained US hikers, allowing Swiss diplomats—who represent American interests in Iran—to visit them. Officials have been denied access to the three Americans since they were detained in July after crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Tehran’s reversal may be an attempt to smooth relations with the US ahead of Thursday’s UN Security Council meetings, which will deal with the nation’s nuclear ambitions, the BBC reports. (More Tehran stories.) Report an error