Former FBI agent reported missing in Iran

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is investigating a report of a former FBI agent missing in Iran, officials said Monday.

The U.S. citizen went missing more than a week ago and hasn't been in touch with his family or employer, the State Department said.

The missing man retired from the FBI about 10 years ago. As a former FBI agent, he followed organized crime in the United States, but was not involved in intelligence matters, said Paul Bresson, an FBI spokesman.

The American is believed to have been in Iran working for an independent author/producer, trying to set up an interview, according to several senior U.S. officials.

"We don't see any linkage whatsoever between this case and any other ongoing cases that may have been in the news recently," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, apparently referring to the 15 British sailors and marines who were seized by Iran more than a week ago. (Full story)

Officials said the man went missing on Kish Island off the southern coast of Iran. The island is part of a free-trade zone under Iranian authority. Under most circumstances, non-Iranian nationals do not need a visa to visit Kish.

The State Department is in touch with the man's family and is in the process of sending a message to the Iranians through the Swiss government, the officials said. The message is a "welfare and whereabouts inquiry," which is a request for information about a missing American citizen.

At this point, McCormack said, U.S. officials have no indication the man is being held by any Iranian entity.

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