son| »It is their only lifeline to the outside world, and so that’s why I write every day|Bauer, Fattal and a third American, Sarah Shroud, were hiking in the mostly peaceful Kurdish region of Iraq when they apparently strayed across the unmarked border into Iran and were arrested|The eight-year sentence, if confirmed, would set back hopes raised recently by Iran’s foreign minister, who hinted that the hiker’s trial, which ended three weeks ago, could lead to their release}