US 'disturbed' by Iran detentions

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The US has issued a strongly worded criticism of Iran over the detention of several American citizens.

The State Department said it believed businessman and peace activist Ali Shakeri was arrested about 10 days ago.

Three other Iranian Americans are known to have been detained and charged with spying, which could carry the death sentence under Iranian law.

A spokesman called the arrests a "disturbing pattern" of harassment of people with dual citizenship.

Tom Casey said the US believed that Mr Shakeri was being held in Tehran's Evin prison. But it could not confirm whether he too had been charged.

California-based Mr Shakeri is a founding board member at the University of California, Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding.

All four Iranian-Americans have been barred from leaving Iran.

Tense relations

The three others are academic Haleh Esfandiari, social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh and journalist Parnaz Azima.

They have been charged with espionage and endangering Iranian national security, the country's judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said on Tuesday.

What we are seeing is a disturbing pattern on the part of the Iranians of efforts to harass these innocent people Tom CaseyUS State Department spokesman

Tehran has accused Washington of using intellectuals and others to try to bring about what it calls a velvet revolution aimed at undermining the Islamic authorities.

The US denies the accusation.

It insists the three who have already been charged are private citizens who went to Iran to see family or for professional reasons.

On its part, Iran is demanding the release of five Iranians arrested in Iraq by US forces earlier this year.

Despite their recent talks over Iraq, the two countries' already tense relations appear to be getting worse.