WORLD BRIEFING / IRAQ
The State Department said it was investigating reports that three American tourists have been detained by Iranians while hiking near Iran’s border with the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
Two Kurdish officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the Americans apparently were arrested after entering Iranian territory without permission.
U.S. helicopters were buzzing overhead and U.S. Humvees had moved into the Kurdish city of Halabja to search for the Americans, said a Kurdish border force official.
A security official said a fourth American who stayed behind at a hotel because he was sick said they were tourists hiking near Halabja and the border town of Ahmed Awaa.
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