U.S. Military Frees Five Iranian Diplomats Held Since 2007

[tekisui]

Source: LA Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. military has freed five Iranian diplomats held since 2007, handing them over to the Iraqi government prior to their planned departure for Tehran, Iranian and Iraqi officials said today.

"The American government has handed over the (Iranian) hostages and prisoners to the Iraqi government," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi told Iranian state TV. He said the prisoners had been received in person by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at his office in Baghdad.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he had met with the diplomats and that they are "happy and safe."

An Iranian embassy spokesman in Baghdad said the five would be handed over to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad later in the day. The U.S. military refused to confirm or deny the report, saying it had a policy of not commenting on individual releases.

According to Zebari, the five were freed under the terms of the security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq signed in December, under which the U.S. is to hand over all detainees to the Iraqi government by the end of the year.

"There wasn't any deal," he said. "This has been there for some time that this would happen. It was part of the agreement for the Americans, part of withdrawing and handing over security responsibilities."

The diplomats had been detained in January 2007 in the northern city of Irbil in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, at the height of what amounted to a cold war raging between the U.S. and Iran over influence in Iraq. The U.S. military subsequently said they were not diplomats but members of the elite Quds force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and accused them of arming, funding and training Shiite militias in Iraq.

more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-iran-diplomats09-2009jul09,0,6513480.story

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. So, if i understand this right, the US did NOT release the Iranians.

We turned them over to the Iraqis, per our withdrawal agreement, and the Iraqis released them.

I guess that's progress.

[scheming daemons]

2. That's fine... the decision to release SHOULD be the Iraqi's to make...