Washington Post reporter apparently detained in Iran

The Washington Post’s correspondent in Iran is believed to have been detained this week, the newspaper said Thursday.

The correspondent, Jason Rezaian, was reported to have been taken into custody Tuesday evening along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, also a journalist, and two other people, The Post’s foreign editor, Douglas Jehl, said in a statement. “We are deeply troubled by this news,” Mr. Jehl said, “and are concerned for the welfare of Jason, Yeganeh and two others said to have been detained with them.”

The Post reported that Mr. Rezaian, 38, had both Iranian and American citizenship and that his wife, an Iranian national, had applied for permanent residency in the United States.

It was not immediately clear, in a country with competing factions, who had held the four people, two of whom are also American citizens, or why. The State Department said that it was aware of reports that three American citizens had been detained in Tehran, but would not comment further, citing privacy considerations. Hamid Babaei, a spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, said it, too, was “following up on the case” and would notify reporters when it had any news.

The Washington Post reported that the two others believed to be detained were American freelance photojournalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom advocacy group, called on the Iranian authorities to explain their actions, and to release those it was holding.

“Iran has a dismal record with regard to its treatment of imprisoned journalists,” Sherif Mansour, the committee’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement. “We hold the Iranian government responsible for the safety of these four.”

The United States does not have diplomatic relations with Iran. The Swiss government, which has an embassy in Tehran, acts on behalf of American citizens in the country.