U.S. Detains Two Iranians In Iraq

(CBS/AP)  U.S. troops in Iraq detained at least two Iranians and released two others who had diplomatic immunity in an exercise the White House says may support its charge that Iran is helping fuel the insurgency there.

Two of those detained were visiting as guests of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, his spokesman said.

The White House confirmed the detentions.

"We suspect this event validates our claims about Iranian meddling, but we want to finish our investigation of the detained Iranians before characterizing their activities," White House spokesman Alex Conant said Monday. "We will be better able to explain what this means about the larger picture after we finish our investigation."

He said that a routine raid on suspected insurgents netted the Iranians. Two had diplomatic immunity and were released to the Iraqi government (GOI), which then released them to Iran, Conant said.

"We continue to work with the GOI on the status of the remaining detainees," Conant said. "That investigation is going well."

The incident comes at a delicate diplomatic time. The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying to expand Iran's role in Iraq as a counter to U.S. influence in the Gulf region. The Bush administration, meanwhile, has resisted pressure for a diplomatic push that would involve all of Iraq's neighbors — including Iran and Syria.

The New York Times reported Monday that U.S. forces were holding four Iranians, including some seized at the compound of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the largest Shiite bloc in Iraq's parliament, who met with President Bush earlier this month at the White House. The Times said U.S. forces also stopped an Iranian embassy car last week and detained two Iranian diplomats, their Iranian guards and an Iraqi driver. The diplomats were later released by Iraq, it said.

Hakim is not only one of Iraq's leading Shiites, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod, he is often thought of as an alternative to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikial if al-Maliki proves unable to control the violence. In fact, Hakim was at the White House three weeks ago and that's one of the reasons why.

"Two Iranians who are in Iraq at the invitation of the president have been apprehended by the Americans," said Hiwa Osman, Talabani's media adviser. "The president is unhappy about it."

Osman had no further details. At the White House, Conant declined to characterize the Iranians' activities until the investigation is concluded. "

"We continue to work with the GOI (Government of Iraq) on the status of the remaining detainees," Conant said. "That investigation is going well."

A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the situation, confirmed that Iranians had been among those detained during recent operations against people planning attacks against coalition forces and Iraqis.

The United States has accused Iran of supplying money, weapons components and training to Shiite militia in Iraq, as well as technology for roadside bombs, the biggest killer of American forces in Iraq. Iran says it only has political and religious links with Iraqi Shiites.

Late last month, Talabani visited Iran for two days of talks with government officials to seek their support in quelling the raging sectarian violence in Iraq. Iran, a Shiite Muslim country, has considerable influence among Iraq's Shiite majority — elements of which have been blamed for the bulk of the recent attacks.

Talabani is a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority, but he had close ties with Iranian officials before Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

[krotec54]

President Jalal Talabani, should have notify the guards that he was expecting guest and should have a welcoming party for them with an escort.

[agnim]

"Can anyone make sense out of any of this?

Posted by clestes at 09:47 AM : Dec 26, 2006"

Yes.
The US is antagonizing the Iranians in order to foment trouble and even bigger excuses to invade Iran.

[clestes-2009]

OK, US forces pick up Iranian diplomats, who they know they can't hold, turn them over to al-Maliki, who then has them released.

What exactly is the purpose of this besides making US forces look useless??

And what is going to happen if the 2 Iranians now in custody prove to be "terrorists"?? Are US forces going to arrest them?? try them in a court of law?? al-Maliki is already pissed to the max about them being detained. Is this going to help relations??

Can anyone make sense out of any of this? I guess I am expecting too much...

[themooniac]

I hope they pick up and send to Gitmo any Iranians they find....

[alphaa10-2009]

When Saddam was in power, the Iraqi Kurd and Shia relations with Iran were simply "interesting"-- and they probably gave us enough ground intel to make many connections worthwhile.

Prior to 2003, such Iranian connections gave American neocons advising Rice, Cheney and Bush much of what they claimed to "know" about Saddam.(Even if much of it was simply wrong, and calculated to produce exactly the invasion Iran hoped for. If they fooled Bush and his brain trust this easily, this looks bad for any military games with them.)

Now, of course-- and just to please us-- Talabani must deny he knows any Iranians. And if any are found in his compound, why, they just might have signed the guestbook, with the preamble at the top, saying, "I, the undersigned saboteur, in full possession of my military faculties, did enter Iraq with the express and sinister mission of destabilization of the sovereign state of Iraq, and in defiance of all known rules of peaceful conduct. I hereby confess all crimes attributed to me, pointing my index finger often and freely toward Teheran. Very truly yours, (signature)"

[shingles1]

Expect a steady drumbeat of stories like this on Iran, in which accusations of Iranian meddling or malfeance will be given big play despite the lack actual evidence behind any of these charges. In this case, the White House spokesman states that the Iranians were captured during a routine raid on suspected insurgents...but if you read the article, there's nothing routine at all about it...unless the US is conducting routine raids on al-Hakim's compound on a regular basis.

The gullibility of the media knows no bounds.

[alphaa10-2009]

Proposition One-- The GOI retains the powers of a sovereign state. It may meet with whom it wishes, and detain whom it wishes and expel whom it wishes. Except when Proposition Two applies.

Proposition Two-- The GOI is a puppet government under the impression it can tap dance its way into legitimacy by opening links and dependencies with real political power brokers.

Proposition Three-- Bush is so eager to show Iranian "meddling" in Iraqi Shia affairs, he does not care whether it makes Pres. Talabani look like he must ask permission to bring in Iranian guests.

Bush does not care how it looks because (drum roll, please) of--

Proposition Four-- Bush wants a pretext of Iranian interference in Iraq to ratchet up military tensions, to justify starting an "armed incursion". Further, Bush will trace arms, explosives and "other" shipments back to Iran, for which suitable evidence will be found, we can be sure. (WMDs need not be found, this time.)

Bonus Question-- Is an "Armed Incursion" a War?

No, no, no-- an "armed incursion" is not the same, technically, as an invasion. Keep that in mind, please. This is your last reminder. And keep your head down.