Iraq Cop Denies Iran's CIA Claims

An Iraqi police official quoted by Iranian state media as saying three detained American tourists are CIA agents has told CBS News he never made any such allegations.

Iran's state-run Al-Alam television reported Monday that, according to Colonel Anwar Haj Omar of the Halabjah police force, the three errant hikers who crossed into Iranian territory are CIA operatives.

It seems that Omar was first quoted by another Iranian media organization, Ayandeh news.

The report ran as a text statement at the bottom of the screen during Al-Alam's broadcast, according to a BBC monitoring service.

Omar told CBS News' Baghdad bureau he had not told any news organization that the three Americans being held by Iranian authorities were CIA operatives.

An Iranian lawmaker confirmed the arrest of three Americans near the border on Monday, according to Iran's official Fars news agency. He did not repeat the claim that the U.S. nationals were suspected of being spies, saying only that the case was "on its natural course".

Iran's Press TV - which like all media in the country is controlled and monitored by the government - reported that Omar had told "Ayandeh news" the three were spies.

"These three people were agents working with the CIA and were arrested near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa," the Press TV report quoted Omar as telling Ayandeh.

One American tourist who was travelling with those detained, a linguistics student named Shon Meckfessel, didn't go on the ill-fated hike because he had a cold - a twist of fate that prevented him from mistakenly wandering into Iran where his three friends are now being held.

The Swiss Embassy in Tehran was working Sunday to learn more about the Americans' fate through its contacts with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Nadine Olivieri said. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran.

Meckfessel sat out the hike because he had a cold, his grandmother, Irene Meckfessel, told The Associated Press from her home in Carmichael, Calif. He called her Saturday from the American Embassy in Baghdad, she said.

An American Embassy spokesperson would not confirm Meckfessel's whereabouts, but told CBS News on Monday that he was no longer in Iraq.

The four had traveled to Turkey, then entered Iraq on Tuesday and traveled to Sulaimaniyah, according to the Kurdish regional government.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that Meckfessel stayed behind while the other three, Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, took a taxi to the resort town of Ahmed Awaa to see a waterfall popular with tourists near the Iranian border.

The regional government's statement said the three got lost during an excursion and were detained by Iranian authorities at the border.

The area where the three disappeared is a popular hiking destination known for a picturesque waterfall and rocky scenery as well as a thick growth of fruit and nut trees.

Camping equipment and two backpacks apparently belonging to the Americans were found in the area and it seemed they were hiking above the waterfall when they accidentally crossed the border, a Kurdish security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Shortly before their capture, the three contacted Meckfessel to say they had entered Iran by mistake and were surrounded by troops, the official said.

Iran's state TV said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards. It cited a "well-informed source" in the Interior Ministry.

Joshua Fattal's mother Laura Fattal of Elkins Park, Pa., issued a brief statement Sunday.

"My husband and I are only concerned about Josh" and the two others, she said.

Meckfessel and another of the missing hikers were both studying Arabic, said Irene Meckfessel, who raised her grandson. Shon Meckfessel had most recently studied at the University of Washington in Seattle.

"He's very much interested in people and languages and he's working on a Ph.D. in linguistics," she said.

In Iran, Swiss diplomats have asked for consular access to the Americans if their presence in Iran is confirmed, Olivieri told the AP. Switzerland has represented U.S. interests in Iran since American diplomats were taken hostage at the embassy in Tehran 30 years ago.

"Our embassy in Tehran is in contact with the Iranian Foreign Ministry and is trying to get a confirmation of the situation," she said.

The State Department, which requested the help, knows about Switzerland's efforts, said spokesman Robert Wood in Washington.