U.S. Hikers Held In Iran Allowed To Call Home,

Families Say!

An undated family photo shows Sarah Shourd, one of three U.S. hikers detained in Iran since July 31.

(CNN) -- Three U.S. hikers who were detained in Iran have spoken by phone with their relatives for the first time since authorities jailed them more than seven months ago, the hikers' families said Wednesday.

Authorities in Iran allowed Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal to call their relatives on Tuesday, their families said.

"It was a tremendous relief to hear their voices at last and know that Shane, Sarah and Josh are keeping well and staying strong," the families said in a statement.

"We believe the calls are a positive signal that their long detention may soon be over after these many months of anguish and uncertainty."

The Americans were detained July 31 after, according to their families, they accidentally strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while on a hiking trip in Kurdistan. They are being held on espionage charges.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has told the country's semi-official Fars News Agency that Iran plans to put the hikers on trial.

The United States has appealed to Iranian leaders to release the three as soon as possible, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

In their statement Wednesday, the relatives appealed "to the Iranian authorities to show compassion and allow our families to be reunited in joy and happiness as well."

Bauer and Fattal, both 27, are being held in the same cell in a Tehran prison; Shourd is in a cell there by herself but can visit the other two every day, the families said.

Their mothers have applied for visas to travel to Iran to visit them in prison, but they have not yet learned whether they will be able to do that, the families said.

"These phone calls make us long to embrace them even more," the families said in their statement. "They have been held for far too long and it's time for them to come home."

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