Iran demands nationals' release
Sunday, 14 January 2007
Iran has demanded that the US military immediately release five of its nationals detained in a raid in northern Iraq on Thursday. Iran's foreign ministry says the men are diplomats and were working at the Iranian liaison office in Irbil.
US officials say they are linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard which they say trains and arms Iraqi insurgents. The US has the authority to pursue Iranians in Iraq who "put our people at risk", a top US official has said. "We are going to need to deal with what Iran is doing inside Iraq," said National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Sunday.
"We know there are jihadists moving from Syria into Iraq. ...We know also that Iran is supplying elements in Iraq that are attacking Iraqis and attacking our forces," he told ABC Television.
Excerpted
Add away.
I saw one of the "Iran demands" on one of the ME sites in the wee hours and the standard response sprang to mind, "Angels in Hell want ice water, too."
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=saudiarabia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=iran
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Thanks to Texkat for starting this thread.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1767584/posts
Iran's Larijani makes unexpected trip to Saudi Arabia
Iran Focus | Jan. 14 , 2007
Posted on 01/14/2007 2:56:36 PM PST by TexKat
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 14 – Iran's chief nuclear negotiator arrived in Riyadh on Sunday on an unexpected trip to meet senior Saudi officials.
Ali Larijani, secretary general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), is to meet Saudi King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal during his stay, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.
The two sides will discuss the situation in the Middle East, Iran's nuclear program, and issues of bilateral concern, it said.
His trip had not previously been announced in state media and came hot on the heels of the announcement last week by U.S. President George W. Bush of his administration's new strategy for curbing violence in Iraq.
Washington and Iraqi officials routinely blame Tehran for aiding Shiite militias responsible for dozens of assassinations in Iraq on a daily basis.
In July 2006, Larijani traveled to Riyadh where he hand-delivered a message by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to King Abdullah.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister along with his French counterpart jointly urged Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.