The families of three Americans held in Iran asked Iranian authorities Thursday to allow diplomats access so they can report on their welfare. Shane Bauer, 27, Josh Fattal, 27, and Sarah Shourd, 31, were arrested July 31 by Iranian authorities when they crossed the border from Iraq while on a hike. Iran's state television has reported that the Americans ignored warnings from border guards. "We still know nothing about how our children are and where they are being held," the families said in a statement. "We respectfully urge the Iranian authorties to grant them their right to consular access so we at least can know they are safe and well." They said the three Americans entered Iran by accident while backpacking near the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a popular nature spot in Iraq's Kurdistan region. "If our children had known the border was there, they wouldn't have crossed it," they said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has asked Iran to release the Americans. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran in 1979 when Iranian students breached the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held American hostages for 444 days. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran and has asked for consular access to the Americans, the Swiss Embassy said. Bauer, a freelance journalist and photographer, and Shourd, a teacher, had been living together in Damascus, Syria. Fattal, a student who had recently finished a teaching fellowship, was visiting them. All three graduated from University of California, Berkeley. The families have created a website http://freethehikers.org Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more