The Washington Post's correspondent in Tehran has been arrested along with his Iranian wife and two US photojournalists.

Iranian judicial offficials confirmed on Friday that Jason Rezaian, who holds dual US and Iranian citizenship, had been detained and is under investigation.

Gholamhossein Esmaili, the head of Tehran's provincial judicial office, confirmed the Post's report of the arrest, according to the state news agency Irna.

The US reporter and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who is also a journalist, are believed to have been arrested on Tuesday evening, but it was not clear if the authorities had a warrant or where they had been taken to.

Iran has detained dozens of local journalists and is branded by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as one of the world's worst enemies of the press because of the number of its imprisoned media representatives, but it has generally been more cautious in arresting those working for foreign media.

"We are deeply troubled by this news and are concerned for the welfare of Jason, Yeganeh and two others said to have been detained with them," said the Post's foreign editor, Douglas Jehl. "[Rezaian] is an experienced, knowledgeable reporter who deserves protection and whose work merits respect."

Salehi works in Tehran for the UAE-based newspaper the National. The two photojournalists detained along with them, who are US citizens, have not been named and it was not clear who they were working for.

The CPJ's Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator, Sherif Mansour, called on Iran to release the four immediately.

"We call on Iranian authorities to immediately explain why Jason Rezaian, Yeganeh Salehi, and two other journalists have been detained, and we call for their immediate release," said Mansour. "Iran has a dismal record with regard to its treatment of imprisoned journalists. We hold the Iranian government responsible for the safety of these four."

Rezaian is among the few reporters who have been able to obtain official permission to work for foreign media in Iran.

The New York Times's bureau chief in Tehran, Thomas Erdbrink, also reacted to Rezaian's arrest. "I strongly condemn the arrest of my friend and colleague @jrezaian and his wife @YeganehSalehi, and two photographers, also friends," he tweeted on Thursday.

In one of his recent dispatches from Tehran, Rezaian reported about a new wave of interest among Iranian youth in baseball.

The Iranian-American has also been active on Twitter, and in June posted a picture of himself along with Salehi and the US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who had visited Tehran for the first time.

Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, is revamping Tehran's relations with the west, especially the US, but the country's judiciary, which is independent of his government, and the security apparatus have intensified their crackdown on journalists.

Earlier this month, a prominent female Iranian journalist, Marzieh Rasouli, became the latest to be arrested under Rouhani. Her detention drew a great deal of condemnation, including by the US philosopher Noam Chomsky, who told the Guardian her detention was entirely unacceptable.