IRAQ/IRAN: Iran demands United States free five "diplomats" arrested in Kurdish city of Arbil / U.S. military say they are tied to group arming Iraqis.

The U.S. military say that five Iranians held by its troops in Iraq are linked to Revolutionary Guards who are arming and funding Iraqi militants but Tehran called them diplomats and demanded they be released. The five Iranians were arrested on Thursday (January 11) in a U.S. dawn raid on an Iranian government office in the Kurdish city of Arbil. The Arbil raid was the second such operation in a month and came as U.S. President George W. Bush issued a blunt warning to Iran over its activities in Iraq. It sparked concerns that the conflict may widen as Washington prepares to send additional troops to Iraq to quell soaring sectarian violence there. The operation was denounced by the regional Kurdish government as a violation of its sovereignty. "An operation like such as this is unacceptable, there should be some sort of communication between the regional government of Kurdistan and this side. If it turns out that those who were captured are not officials or diplomats, then what is important is that from the start, the offices of the regional government of Kurdistan should have been informed," Kurdistan National Assembly member Khalil Ibrahim said. The U.S. military said the five detainees were connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). The organisation was "known for providing funds, weapons, improvised explosive device technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilise the government of Iraq and attack Coalition forces," it said in a statement. In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini demanded their immediate release, saying the five were diplomats involved in "consulate affairs". Iraq has said the mission did not yet have consular status but was operating legitimately. "The American forces should release the five Iranians as soon as possible, and prevent themselves from committing similar actions in the future," Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a weekly news conference, adding the five were "involved in consulate affairs". "Their activities were of an official nature, within the framework of law," Hosseini said when asked whether the five Iranians were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

ITN Source | January 14, 2007

Tags:. .violence. .improvised. .soon. .january. .connected