Posted on 01/11/2007 6:43:37 AM PST by Valin
TEHERAN, Iran - Iran’s foreign ministry on Thursday summoned the Iraqi and Swiss envoys to Teheran over the detention of five Iranian staffers at a diplomatic mission in northern Iraq, state-run television reported.
The broadcast said the ministry had summoned the ambassadors and “demanded an explanation” about the incident. Switzerland represents American interests in Iran, where there is no US embassy.
The summons followed an early morning raid in Iraq, where multinational forces stormed the building of an Iranian consulate the Kurdish-controlled northern city of Irbil, 350 kilometers (220 miles) from Baghdad.
The troops detained the five staffers and confiscated computers and documents, according to local Kurdish officials in Irbil.
The US military issued a statement saying it had taken six people into custody in the region but did not mention a raid on the Iranian consulate. It declined further comment on the raid.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told state-run radio that the raid was “against a diplomatic mission” since the “presence of Iranian staffers in Irbil was legal.”
Hosseini claimed the action by the US-led coalition reflected “continuation of pressure” on Iran, aiming to “create tension” between Iraq and its neighbours.
Washington accuses Teheran of helping to incite the violence in Iraq by supporting the Shiite militias. Iran denies the allegations.
Last month, US troops detained elsewhere in Iraq at least two Iranians and released two others who had diplomatic immunity.
Were they paraded around in blindfolds? Just wondering. Pound sand weasels!
Required reading for Iranian Diplomats :
Article 55 of the VIENNA CONVENTION ON CONSULAR RELATIONS AND OPTIONAL PROTOCOLS DONE AT VIENNA, ON 24 APRIL 1963
Article 55
RESPECT FOR THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE RECEIVING STATE
1. Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.
2. The consular premises shall not be used in any manner incompatible with the exercise of consular functions.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not exclude the possibility of offices of other institutions or agencies being installed in part of the building in which the consular premises are situated, provided that the premises assigned to them are separate from those used by the consular post. In that event, the said offices shall not, for the purposes of the present Convention, be considered to form part of the consular premises.
http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/BH444.txt
Hat tip to Freeper AdmSmith
Heh. Now that's funny.
Obviously, Iran is in no position the claim diplomatic immunity, as they were pioneers in the violation it.
Someone should ask Ahmadinejad that question. He's the expert on Embassy takeovers.
This is pretty good. I think this fits in with Baker's panel. They wanted us to talk to Iranians, now we're talking to Iranians. Maybe we could talk to some Syrians too.
I could be wrong, but I don't think this is excatly what James Baker had in mind. :-)
They have a lot of chutzpah to complain about a breach of diplomatic protocol/status.
They do that.
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