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US asks Iran to ensure return of missing US citizens

Tuesday, August 04, 2009 WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Monday on Iran to ensure the safe return of three missing Americans thought to have been detained by Tehran after straying across the Iraq border.Iranian state television reported Saturday that the Americans had been arrested after "infiltrating" from Iraq, but Clinton said the US government was still to receive official confirmation from Tehran."Obviously, we are concerned. We want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible. And we call on the Iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing Americans and return them as quickly as possible," Clinton told journalists.Switzerland, which in the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic relations represents American interests in Iran, had been asked to help track them down, she added.State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that despite the lack of official confirmation there was no reason to doubt the Iranian state TV report.The presumed detention of the US nationals comes as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program and amid political turmoil in Iran following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.Clinton's plea to Tehran for information regarding the missing Americans came as more details emerged about the trio.The autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq, where the three Americans set off from, said it was in contact with Iranian and US officials in a bid to resolve the issue.

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