US Warns Against Travel to Iran

Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi speaks during a press conference and after his four hours of talks with the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker in Baghdad, on Monday , May 28, 2007. Qomi said that he told the Americans that Tehran was ready to train and equip the Iraqi army and police to create "a new military and security structure" and he added that the two sides would meet again in less than a month. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (Hadi Mizban - AP)

WASHINGTON -- The United States warned U.S. citizens on Thursday against traveling to Iran, accusing Islamic authorities there of a "disturbing pattern" of harassment after the detention of a fourth Iranian-American for alleged espionage.

"American citizens may be subject to harassment or arrest while traveling or residing in Iran," the State Department said after confirming that Ali Shakeri, a peace activist from Irvine, Calif., who has been missing in Iran for more than two weeks, is being held at a notorious prison in Tehran along with three other people.

"Americans of Iranian origin should consider the risk of being targeted by authorities before planning travel to Iran," the department said, noting that "dual national Iranian-American citizens may encounter difficulty in departing Iran."

The alert alleged that Tehran continues to repress numerous indigenous minority groups and that "some elements" of the Iranian government and population are extremely hostile to the United States.

Earlier, several international human rights groups urged Iran to immediately release the four Iranian-American scholars and activists being held on suspicion of spying.

"As with the other cases this is simply ridiculous," said deputy spokesman Tom Casey. "He has no standing with the U.S. government, he is not a U.S. government official, he is not operating or acting on behalf of the U.S. government. He is a private citizen."

Casey said there had been no response to requests for access to Shakeri or the others by Swiss diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iran, and repeated flat denials that any of the four are spies or are employed by the U.S. government.

Shakeri, a founding board member at the University of California, Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, was supposed to leave Iran and fly to Europe on either May 8 or May 13 but never arrived at his destination.

He joins three other Iranian-Americans _ academic Haleh Esfandiari, Kian Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant with George Soros' Open Society Institute, and journalist Parnaz Azima _ now in custody in Iran.

Esfandiari, Tajbakhsh and Azima have all been charged with endangering Iran's national security and espionage, the country's judiciary spokesman said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear on Thursday if Shakeri has been charged.

Esfandiari and her organization have been accused by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of trying to set up networks of Iranians to start a revolution to bring down the hardline regime. The ministry alleges that the Open Society Institute, which seeks to promote democracy worldwide, was also part of the conspiracy.

But Casey, as well as their relatives and employers, said they were in Iran visiting family members or engaged in professional work.