Representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, scheduled to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday, say they will seek the release of three Americans detained in Iran since July.

Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal and Sarah Shourd apparently strayed into Iran while hiking in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. CAIR has been active in seeking their release.

“We hope that President Ahmadinejad will take this opportunity for a humanitarian gesture to create a more positive atmosphere for constructive dialogue between our two nations by releasing the American detainees,” CAIR National Board Chairman Larry Shaw said in a statement. “As an American organization, we must do what we can to help our nation’s citizens when they are swept up in international events.”

Ahmadinejad already has said he will seek leniency for the hikers, who are in their 20s and 30s.
"What I can ask is that the judiciary expedites the process and gives it its full attention, and to basically look at the case with maximum leniency," he said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. "The judiciary has its own procedures to follow, but I'm hopeful.”

CAIR said it would give Ahmadinejad a letter from the families of the hikers, and also a letter from the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who has been missing in Iran since 2007.