Iran's intelligence minister has said he has no doubt three US citizens arrested last July near the Iraq border were spies and called on Washington to propose a prisoner swap to secure their release.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called for the freeing of the three, whose arrest has further strained relations tested by an Iranian nuclear programme.
Iran's judiciary has laid espionage charges against Shane Bauer (27) Sarah Shourd (31) and Josh Fattal (27).
Their families said they were hiking and strayed over the border unintentionally.
"Their status as spies is explicit and certain and there is no equivocation in regard to a swap," intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
"Our expectation is that the Americans, with their claim on human rights issues, should initiate an action so that we can decide on whether or not there would be one (a swap)," he said.
Relations between the United States and the Islamic Republic are strained by what Western powers believe are Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the accusation, but US-led efforts are afoot to impose new sanctions on Tehran.
Reuters