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BBC MUNDO RADIO
- NEW: Hikers allowed to speak publicly for first time at a Tehran hotel
- NEW: Hiker calls treatment by Iranian officials 'decent'
- Attorney: Mothers request meeting with president, supreme leader
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- The mothers of three American hikers detained in Iran met with their children on Thursday, Iran's Press TV reported, airing pictures of the tearful reunion.
Sarah Shourd, 31; Shane Bauer, 27; and Josh Fattal, 27, were detained last July. Their families say the three accidentally strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while on a hiking trip in Iraqi Kurdistan.
"I was happy to see the video of the reunion," said the hikers' attorney, Masoud Shafii. "I didn't expect them to show it on TV, but they did."
The hikers met with their mothers for about eight hours alone, he later said. Shafii said Thursday that he had yet to meet with the hikers.
At a government-controlled news conference held at a Tehran hotel, the hikers spoke publicly for the first time.
"We see each other twice a day," Bauer told reporters at the news conference. "We exercise a lot, read a lot, study -- at least these last few months we've been able to do that, have had more material to do that. Try to be active as much as possible."
Shourd, Bauer's girlfriend, called their treatment by Iranian authorities "decent."
"It's really difficult being alone. Shane and Josh are in the room together, but I'm alone. And that's the most difficult thing for me," she said. "But I see them twice a day."
Video: Detained hikers meet with mothers 
Video: Moms of jailed hikers on trip to Iran She said they receive good food and access to television and reading materials. Prison officials are looking for a suitable cellmate for Shourd, Shafii said, as she is housed separately from the men.
"The hour a day I have with Shane and Josh, I try to make the most of it. I know we sing together and tell each other stories about our lives and everything about each other," Shourd said. "We try to just give each other a lot of support in the little time we have together. The rest of the time I exercise and read. That's all there is to do."
The hikers' mothers have requested a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Shafii said. "They came with the hope of seeing them and asking for their children's freedom. I'm not sure if the meeting is going to happen, but that's what they want."
Right before the trip, Shroud's mother, Nora, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she wanted to meet with Ahmadinejad "to thank him for the gift of allowing us to go and see them, and to give us the bigger gift of their release."
Asked whether the three could be released soon, the attorney said, "It's not clear right now. The investigation is not over. Once the investigation is over, then the case goes to trial, and there will be (a) defense so it looks like it could take some time, but from a diplomatic standpoint, anything can happen."
Fattal's mother, Laura Fattal, last week picked up visas that enabled her and the two other mothers to enter Iran to visit their children. They had applied for visas six months ago.
Shafii said a Swiss ambassador had told him the mothers met with their children at Hotel Esteghlal (Independence), an upscale hotel in northern Tehran, Thursday afternoon. That would mean the hikers were taken out of Tehran's Evin prison for the meeting.
The three Americans have not been formally charged, although Tehran has said they will face trial on espionage charges.
They have had little contact with the outside world since their arrests. They made a brief phone call home March 9 and have had access to a few letters and messages sent by relatives, friends and supporters.
The Swiss ambassador met with the detainees last month and said Bauer and Shourd were in poor health and were considering a hunger strike.
"What's most important is Sarah Shourd's ailment," Shafii said. Shourd suffers from an ongoing condition and needs to see a doctor every few months, he said. "This hasn't happened, and I've told investigators about this," he said, adding that he asked Shourd's mother for a medical history, and her mother has brought the information.
The three decided against a hunger strike, he said, after meeting with Swiss diplomats. The Swiss have been representing American interests in the case in the absence of formal U.S.-Iran diplomatic relations.
CNN's Reza Sayah and Brian Todd contributed to this report.
