Iran Held American for Weeks, U.S. Says

WASHINGTON —  The United States said Thursday that a U.S. citizen arrested in Iran had been held without access to foreign consular officials since Sept. 21. It demanded that consular access be provided immediately.

Iran said Wednesday that it had arrested U.S. national Milton Mayar on charges of illegal business deals. It did not say when he was detained.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Mayar was also accused of having dealings with “agents having links with foreign intelligence services.”

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which handles U.S. affairs there in the absence of direct U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations, found out about the arrest from unofficial sources on Sept. 22.

The Swiss immediately requested permission to visit Mayar, but to no avail, Boucher said. “We’re asking the Swiss to continue to demand access in accordance with international practice,” he said.

IRNA said Mayar was the brother-in-law of a general named Nassiri, described as the head of the former shah’s intelligence service, Savak. It said Nassiri was executed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. IRNA, quoting the ministry statement, said, “Mayar, who enjoyed Nassiri’s backing prior to the revolution, continued to stay in the country after the revolution on the pretext of having an Iranian wife.”