WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's spokesman sent a birthday greeting to the president of Iran, who turned 54 this week.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley urged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd) to send American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer home.
In a tweet sent Thursday on Ahmadinejad's birthday, Crowley said, "What a gift that would be."
Fattal, Bauer and a third American, Sarah Shourd, were arrested by Iranian forces in July 2009 while hiking near the border of Iran and Iraq. Fattal and Bauer are still being held and are scheduled to stand trial in November on spying charges.
The Iranians freed Shourd last month on $500,000 bail.
There was no immediate response from the Iranian president.