TEHRAN, Aug 29: Iran's foreign ministry said on Sunday it had been officially informed by the United States that one of its nationals detained in Afghanistan is being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

"We asked the Americans to give us information and they have done so," spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. He did not say how the matter was communicated, but in the absence of diplomatic relations the two sides generally use the Swiss embassy in Tehran as an intermediary.

But Asefi did say Tehran still did not have full details on the individual in question, and added "we still have doubts that he is an Iranian".

The prisoner, reported to be 25 years old, has been accused of fighting alongside Taliban militia, but has claimed he was merely in Afghanistan to buy stereo parts. -AFP