Three Americans who apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan are in Iranian custody, Iran’s state-run television reported Saturday.
The al-Alam station quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying the Americans, two men and a woman, were detained after they ignored warnings from border guards and crossed into Iran in a remote mountainous area.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was investigating reports that the three were missing. The State Department said that it had asked the Swiss government, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran, to confirm the reports with the Iranians and to seek consular access.
The detentions come at a delicate time. U.S.-Iranian relations have been strained by Iranian allegations of Western involvement in fomenting protests against Iran’s disputed presidential election.