US Forces sieze Iranian Consulate in Irbil

[Mark Gobell]

Iranians Detained After U.S. Raid In Iraq

Iraqi Shiite Leader Calls On Government To Hit Lawbreakers With An "Iron Fist"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/11/iraq/main2350375.shtml

(CBS/AP) Iraqi officials said Thursday that multinational forces detained as many as six Iranians in an overnight raid on Tehran's diplomatic mission in the northern city of Irbil.

The forces stormed the building at about 3 a.m., detaining the five staffers and confiscating computers and documents, two senior local Kurdish officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Irbil is a city in the Kurdish-controlled north, 220 miles from Baghdad.

"There are reports that six people were detained but now we want clarification from the American side and from the Iranian side about these people and what they were doing there and whether they were employees," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said during a news conference. He added that the foreign ministry is contacting concerned sides "and then we can take an official stance on the matter."

In Tehran, Iran's foreign ministry summoned the Iraqi and Swiss ambassadors and "demanded an explanation" about the incident. Switzerland represents American interests in Iran, where there is no U.S. Embassy.

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 U.S.-led coalition reflected "continuation of pressure" on Iran, aiming to "create tension" between Iraq and its neighbors.

A resident living near the mission said the foreign force used stun bombs in the raid and brought down an Iranian flag that was on the roof of the two-story yellow house. As the operation went on, two helicopters flew overhead, said the resident on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution.

"They took five Iranians with them and at about 7 in the morning they handed over the house to Kurdish peshmergas [fighters]," he said.

In the early afternoon, a number of Kurdish guerrillas could be seen around the building preventing people from getting close to the house and not allowing cameramen and photographers to take pictures.

[Mark Gobell]

Bush invaded Iran last night

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 4:16 PM on January 11, 2007.

Did he sign an executive order to invade Iran & Syria?

"Last night, Bush sent US forces to attack the inviolate territory of a foreign diplomatic mission, the Iranian mission in northern Iraq - legally, the land of a foreign nation - and took the Iranians hostage. It's hard to see under international law how this is legal, let alone how this isn't an act of war. And it's beyond ironic that we appear to have condoned the very action that we condemned Iran for - attacking diplomatic missions in violation of international law," writes John Aravosis.

"But what's most troubling about this is the transparency of what Bush is up to. He's trying to provoke a war with Iran, either by forcing Iran to strike back, or by discovering secret Iranian diplomatic documents that would prove their complicity in helping the insurgents in Iraq. We just invaded Iran last night, folks. Foreign embassies and diplomatic outposts are legally the foreign soil of the country represented. We invaded Iran. This is an act of war."

"U.S. forces in Iraq raided Iran's consulate in the northern city of Arbil and detained five staff members," according to state-run Iranian news, via Bloomberg.

We don't know whether it was Iranians or Iranian diplomats who were captured or why the raid even took place. But the timing is curious, given Bush's speech last night.

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/%20evan/46589/

[Mark Gobell]

Gunmen kidnap Iranian diplomat in Baghdad

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06752644.htm

06 Feb 2007 09:15:08 GMT

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped a senior Iranian diplomat in Baghdad on Sunday, an Iraqi government official said on Tuesday.

"We are dealing with this as a kidnapping," the official told Reuters. The official said the diplomat, the second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, was snatched in the central Karrada district by 30 gunmen wearing uniforms of a special Iraqi army unit.

The gunmen were wearing uniforms of the Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion, a special operations unit that often works with U.S. military forces in Iraq, the official said.

U.S. forces in Iraq have arrested a number of Iranians, including some diplomats, in the past month. Washington accuses Tehran of providing support to militants fighting U.S. forces in Iraq. Tehran denies this.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. embassy or U.S. military officials.