Obviously diplomats, as they have flowers in their muzzles.
Posted on 04/04/2007 3:51:11 AM PDT by Flavius
EHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian representative is to be allowed to meet five Iranians who have been held in Iraq by U.S. forces since January, Iran's official IRNA news agency said on Wednesda
he United States says the five are linked to Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards and says they were providing support to militants in Iraq. Tehran denies the charge and says the men are diplomats.
Iraq said it had handed a request for such a meeting to the U.S. embassy about two weeks ago. There was no immediate confirmation of the report from U.S. officials.
"With the continuous efforts of Iran's embassy in Iraq, the cooperation of the Iraqi officials and the help of the U.N. representative, Iran's representative is supposed to meet our country's diplomats," a "reliable source" was quoted by IRNA as saying.
Some analysts say the Revolutionary Guards who seized 15 British sailors and marines on March 23 in the northern Gulf may have been acting partly to send a message that Iran would not remain idle while its citizens were detained in Iraq.
Iranian officials dismiss any link between the Britons and the five Iranians in Iraq. Britain and the United States have said they would not get involved in negotiations over any swaps.
"I have passed that request (for the Iranians to see the detainees) to the U.S. embassy around two weeks ago and said that it will be a sign of good will if it happens," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said.
IRNA quoted the source as saying the "illegal arrest has political roots."
"The American forces' refusal in the past two months to (allow) the meeting of Iran's representative and the Islamic Republic of Iran's consulate with the Iranian diplomats is against international treaties," the source added.
Lou Fintor, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, said he was unable to make any direct comment on the report but repeated that the Iraqi government has asked the American military to "expedite our investigation into the arrests."
The U.S. military referred all queries on the report to the State Department who were not immediately available for comment.
The report by IRNA follows the release on Tuesday of Iranian diplomat, Jalal Sharafi, who was captured by gunmen in the Iraqi capital in February. He was held for two months.
Iran blamed the U.S. military for Sharafi's kidnapping but U.S. officials denied any involvement. Zebari said he did not know who held Sharafi.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin in Baghdad)
General Panic (Meet Brig General Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran's anti-American Qods Force)
I'm beginning to think we should send the Brits home.
Iran army loses touch with senior officer based in Iraq
Or am I consfusing this lot with another bunch, the ones that "disappeared" in Turkey?
From a news report on the same topic.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's state media reported Wednesday that an Iranian envoy will be allowed to meet five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq since January — a possible sign of further progress toward ending a British-Iranian standoff.
The report appeared as Britain and Iran were entering a sensitive phase in the efforts to free 15 British sailors and marines captured by the Iranians last month in disputed waters of the Persian Gulf.
A separate Iranian diplomat seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen in Iraq was released and returned Tuesday to Tehran. Iran had blamed the U.S. for the abduction, a charge American authorities denied.
With respect, it is not our decision that will lead to them getting access, it is the Americans. I think this is a great shame, and I hope there is some outrage over it.
And they will claim to have been tortured, had their Korans flushed down the toilet, made to eat pickled pig’s feet, whatever. Can’t wait.
You guys in the UK need to toughen up and stand up to the Iranian terrorist regime, it is a shame what your government is demonstrating to the world, a real shame. The Iranian mullahs declared a war against you and your government is showing great weakness.
fyi
That’s the problem with keeping all these “detainies” around. Nothing good can come from it. We should question them aggressively... and then eliminate them.
I, for one, would be seriously outraged. Didn’t Bush just come out the other day and say “no quid pro quo” with the the 15 Brits. Now we got this 180, I don’t get it
I hope so, too. And if a deal was done, your government just pinned a bull’s-eye on the back of every one of your service personnel.
Obviously diplomats, as they have flowers in their muzzles.
I don’t defend my governments actions, I criticise it, you are complicit also.
Complicit in what?!
IF and only if you were involved in the release of the iranian, then sadly your government like mine has failed you.
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