Oddly, to me anyway, their parents haven’t had a lot to say about the whole deal. They obviously fronted some of the bucks that financed the “most excellent adventure”. I charged the whole thing up to the success of the Darwin Theory-—these morons have taken themselves out of the gene pool for 8 years at least
Whereas I haven't read anything today concerning the eight year sentence, the mothers of the hikers have been very active from the very beginning and quite unfailing in their efforts to have their sons and daughter released.
The family Sarah Shourd, the girl hiker that was originally held with the other two, managed to secure her release when it was indicated that she was suffering from a few medical conditions. Of course, first they had to post a "bond" of $500,000. Since the family does not seem to be particularly affluent, it was not clear how the money was finally obtained.
You can Google "mothers of hikers held in Iran" and see all of the things they have been doing.