- TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Security
forces have detained an American man for illegally entering Iran from Pakistan,
state television reported Friday.
-
- An Iranian police officer confirmed to The Associated
Press the arrest of the unidentified American on Tuesday, saying his motives
for crossing the border had not been determined.
-
- The American was being interrogated, the officer said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
-
- Iran has tightened security on its eastern border with
Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent infiltration by supporters of the Al-Qaida
terror group and the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
-
- State television said the man was a Jewish American.
It said he was arrested in Sistan-Baluchestan, a southeastern province
that borders Pakistan. The television gave no further details.
-
- In Islamabad, Pakistan, the U.S. Embassy said it had
no information about the American. An embassy official read out a comment
by State Department spokesman Adam Ereli who said the United States had
contacted Switzerland, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran.
-
- "Our understanding is that the Swiss Embassy has
inquired about this detention with the Iranian authorities, but we have
not yet received confirmation of the identity of the individual and cannot
verify at this time that he is an American citizen," Ereli said in
Washington on Thursday.
-
- American citizens are allowed to enter Iran provided
they obtain a visa beforehand.
-
- The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran
after militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held its
occupants as hostages for more than a year.
-
- Though relations thawed somewhat in the late 1990s, they
deteriorated in recent years after President George W. Bush accused Iran
of being part of an "axis of evil." Since the overthow of Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein last year, U.S. officials and the Iraqi defense
minister have accused Iran of interfering in Iraqi affairs. Iran has denied
the charge.
-
- Iran has no relations with Israel and has called for
its destruction. Conservative politicians routinely attack anything associated
with Israel or Jews as "Zionist."
-
- ©ÝCopyrightÝ2004ÝHaaretz. All
rights reserved
-
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464474.html
|
