Kurdish officials say Iran has closed its border with Iraq's northern Kurdish region as a protest to the arrest of an Iranian by the U.S. military.

The closure of the border Monday, came after the detention of Mahmudi Farhadi, a civilian official, who was arrested Thursday at a hotel in Sulaimaniyah.

The U.S. military says Farhadi is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, a covert action arm of the Iranian government accused of aiding lethal attacks against the Iraq government and coalition forces.

Iraqi and Iranian leaders say he was in the country on official business and with the full knowledge of the government.

U.S. military officials say Farhadi has been involved in transporting explosives into Iraq. The military says intelligence reports also indicate he was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign terrorists in Iraq.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP .