US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Iran to provide information about three missing Americans.

Shaun Maxwell, Shane Bower and Sara Short were reportedly arrested by Iranian forces, after crossing the border with Iraq.

Clinton asked Iran to give whereabouts of the three and return them as quickly as possible.

A Kurdish security official said three American tourists were arrested by Iranian forces after they crossed the border with the Kurdistan region of Su-lai-man-iyah to Iran.

He said this was due to poor knowledge of the area. The United States has asked Switzerland, which represents US interests in Iran, to confirm the detention.

(CCTV August 4, 2009)