US says seizure of Iranians in Iraq 'regrettable'

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US forces on Wednesday freed a group of Iranians, including two diplomats, whom they seized at a Baghdad hotel in what the military said was a "regrettable incident."

Tehran issued a protest over what it called the "unjustifiable" detention of the Iranians, who were taken by US troops from the Sheraton hotel in blindfolds and handcuffs after their convoy was stopped at a nearby checkpoint.

The seizure of the Iranians late on Tuesday came just hours after US President George W. Bush waged a new verbal attack on Tehran, and was likely to further exacerbate tensions between the arch-foes.

Bush said he had ordered his military chiefs in Iraq to confront Iran's "murderous activities," labelling the Islamic republic the world's leading sponsor of state terrorism.

But Saadi Othman, an adviser to the US commander of troops in Iraq, General David Petraeus, described the detention as "regrettable."

"Nothing was intended, and once we found out from the Iraqi government that they were Iranian officials, we released them," Othman told BBC television.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey later said the United States considered it a routine and tactical operational issue in Baghdad and "people should not try and read anything more into it than that."

"The issue was handled and looked at. The individuals have subsequently been released. And I think that's pretty much case closed," he told reporters.

Tensions between the two foes have been running high over Iran's contested nuclear drive and claims by the United States that Tehran is stoking the violence in Iraq by training and arming militia groups.

Iran lodged a formal complaint with the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests there, saying the Iranians were members of an energy ministry delegation in Baghdad for talks on building a power plant.

"The foreign ministry summoned the Swiss charge d'affaires ... and expressed a strong protest at this unjustifiable approach that is against international law, and demanded a US explanation," the ministry said.

Iraqi and Iranian officials said seven Iranians had been seized, while the US military it detained eight after stopping them at a checkpoint and finding unauthorised weapons and later finding a briefcase full of money at the hotel.

It is the second such action by US troops since January, when five Iranians working in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil were seized for allegedly aiding the anti-American insurgency. They are still in US military custody.

The US military said the Iranians were travelling with Iraqi guards in a four-vehicle convoy were stopped at a checkpoint where troops confiscated an AK-47 rifle and two pistols in the possession of the Iraqis.

"The Iraqis serving as a protective detail had identification but no weapons permits and also had Iranian money," the military said.

The group was allowed to go to the hotel but US soldiers followed them and searched their rooms where they "confiscated a laptop computer, cellphone and a briefcase full of Iranian and US money," it said.

It said they were then taken for questioning to a military facility, where two were found to be carrying diplomatic credentials, and they were all later released.

A Sheraton employee said the Iranians, including a woman, were taken as they were eating dinner at a hotel restaurant.

"Later the soldiers blindfolded the Iranians and took them along with their Iraqi bodyguards," he said. "There was no trouble. Everything was very quiet."

US military spokesman Brigadier General Kevin Bergner said the detainees had been handcuffed and blindfolded as "standard procedure."

The US action came after Bush accused Tehran of being the world's leading supporter of state terrorism, and said its atomic drive has raised the spectre of a "nuclear holocaust" in the Middle East.

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime, to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late."

Bush also said Tehran must stop aiding Shiite fighters, whether or not Iran's leaders know about such activities.

"Either way, they cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis," he said. "And until it does I have authorised our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities."

On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had said Iran and neighbouring countries were ready to fill the "power vacuum" emerging in the Middle East as US power in Iraq wanes.

"We are ready with other regional countries, such as Saudi Arabia, and the people of Iraq, to fill this vacuum."

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