Calls to release U.S. hikers renewed

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Friday renewed calls for Iran to immediately release three American hikers detained for nearly nine months and also appealed to the Iranian government to issue their families visas to visit them.

A day after the families said two of the three are in poor health, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said there was no reason for their continued incarceration. He spoke after getting a report from Swiss diplomats who were allowed to visit the trio in Tehran's notorious Evin prison on Thursday.

Thursday's visit by the Swiss, who represent U.S. interests in Iran, was the first since last October and only the third since the three University of California at Berkeley graduates were detained July 31, after apparently straying into Iran while hiking in a scenic part of Iraq.