Posted on 01/12/2007 4:43:51 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States said on Friday that the five Iranians who were detained by U.S.-led forces in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, had no official diplomatic status.
The "individuals, who were detained were not carrying diplomatic passports, had regular passports. And this was not a consulate. This was not an officially accredited diplomatic facility," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The building where the five Iranians were arrested was a "building that the Iranians were using, occupying, that was Iraqi territory," McCormack said.
Failing to provide any more details, the spokesman insisted that the building "was not quote, unquote, the 'Iranian consulate.'"
Iran said U.S. forces raided the Iranian consulate in Iraq's northern city of Arbil and arrested five of its staff members. The Iranian Embassy in Baghdad sent a letter to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Thursday to protest against "the U.S. illegal move" and called on the Iraqi government to help secure immediate release of the five people.
The United States has been accusing Iran of supporting attacks on American troops in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that the United States will not "stand idly by" if Iran tries to disrupt Washington's renewed effort to stabilize Iraq.
Related:
Iran confirms U.S. arrest of five Iranian consulate staff in Iraq
TEHRAN, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. forces raided the Iranian consulate in Iraq's northern city of Arbil and arrested five of its staff members, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.
After disarming the consulate's guards and breaking into the gate, U.S. troops entered the office building early Thursday morning, IRNA said, confirming Iraqi state television's earlier reports.
The Iraqi state television reported earlier that Multi-National Forces in Arbil detained staff members of the Iranian consulate there and confiscated computers and some documents.
The "illegitimate actions mean an open abuse of the mandate that was issued to country members of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq by the UN Security Council, an indispensable part of which is assistance to ensuring the guarding and safety of diplomatic missions in this country," Kamynin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
| Editor: Liu Dan |
Another item.
i.e. their lives are forfeit. They can be shot as spies in a war zone. We are constantly told that we have to abide by international rules. Well, those are the rules - fire away.
Iranians caught should be shot as trespassers!
Just tell Tehran it was a bunch of US college students.
These people are not diplomats. Iran is lying. The American Left will join them in the lie. We need to tell the truth.
I'm sure the will be soon released.... carrying a picture of Bush with his tail between his legs.
"Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin also harshly criticized the detentions, calling them a "flagrant violation" of international conventions."
"It's absolutely unacceptable when the military storms a foreign consular office on the territory of another state," Kamynin said. "The unlawful actions by the U.S. servicemen mark an open abuse of a mandate issued to the multinational forces in Iraq."
Bullseye. There is no way in hell Bush is going to allow the detention of these bloodthirsty savages. He lacks the will to actually punish the Iranians... FOR ANYTHING. He'll insist they be set free.
One can only hope these clowns will be keeped under wraps for a long time. Surfs up boys...spill your guts if you believe in air. 3:30AM is fast approaching for 5AM shift. Gotta hit the rack. Do have a great upcoming day.
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