Iran hails release by US of nine detainees

IRAN:Nine Iranians held in Iraq by US forces were released yesterday and handed over to the government of Iraq.

Among the men were two seized by US troops during a raid last January on an unofficial Iranian consular office in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region.

The US accused the men, who Iran says are diplomats, of belonging to the Quds force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards which, Washington claims, has been providing Iraqi insurgents and militias with weapons, armour-piercing explosive devices, and training.

The two from the Irbil raid, Brujerd Chegini and Hamid Reza Asgari Shukuk, were the only officials in the freed group. The other seven seem to have been arrested at random at or near scenes of violence. The US military said the men were freed because they do not constitute a security risk.

Three of the Irbil five remain in US custody, along with another eight Iranians, including a Mahmud Farhadi who was captured at a hotel in Suleimaniya, also in the Kurdish region. Washington claims he is a senior intelligence figure while Tehran insists he is a businessman conducting trade.

US military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said the 11 still in detention "are considered a threat to this country".

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini welcomed the move. "From the beginning of the abduction of the five Iranian diplomats, we said they were innocent. Now the US military has confirmed it."

He said he hoped the remaining three Iranians detained in Irbil would also be freed and reiterated Tehran's offer to hold a new round of talks with US and Iraqi diplomats.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's ambassador to Iraq, received the men from Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. He has been sharply critical of the detention of the Iranians, particularly the Irbil five, because during the period of Baathist rule in Iraq, Shia dissidents, including Mr Maliki, were given refuge in Iran.

In spite of their tactical alliance with the US, both of the main Shia parties, Mr Maliki's Dawa and the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, maintain a strategic connection with Tehran.

The release was preceded by an announcement by the US secretary of defence, Robert Gates, that Tehran had given assurances it would interdict the flow of armour-piercing bombs Washington claims are manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq for attacks on US convoys.

Mr Gates, who has adopted a more pragmatic line toward Tehran than hardliners in the Bush administration, is likely to have ordered the releases following a review of their cases conducted last month.

Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, called the releases "a positive development".

He and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has cultivated warm relations with Tehran, were highly embarrassed by the seizure of the Iranians in the Kurdish region, which depends on Iran for electricity, food, clothing and other supplies. Mr Zebari said: "In my view this will enhance relations between Iraq, Iran and Washington. We have been saying there should be a new round of talks between the three countries on issues involving Iraq. And they must resume talks because of this development." Analysts argue that Iranian action to curb weapons smuggling and the release of the nine could signify an easing of tensions between Tehran and Washington over Iraq and could eventually lead to another meeting between Iranian and US officials in the Iraqi capital.

Such an encounter could encourage Washington to engage Tehran in a dialogue on other issues, including Iran's nuclear programme, which the US insists must be frozen because it suspects Tehran is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons.