U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiator ’concerned’ about detention of journalists

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. negotiator in nuclear talks with Iran said on Tuesday the United States is concerned about the recent detention of four journalists, three of them Americans, and called on Tehran to free them.

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called for the immediate release of the four journalists, three of whom it said hold U.S.-Iranian citizenship.

Two of the detainees are Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post's Tehran correspondent, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian citizen and a correspondent for the National, a United Arab Emirates-based newspaper, the CPJ said in a statement.

The other two Americans have not been identified.

"We call on Iran to release all of these people," Wendy Sherman, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, testified at a U.S. Senate hearing, adding that the detentions "undermine" Iran's negotiating position.

She said the United States was using "all appropriate channels," especially the Swiss, to make its concerns known to Iran.