"It was unclear what kind of evidence U.S. officials had that the Iranians had been planning attacks, and they would not identify those being held. One official said that "a lot of material" was seized in the raid, but would not say if it included weapons or documents that pointed to planning for attacks. Much of the material was still being examined, the official said."
[I'm sure it is...] I guess the Iranians are just going to have to seize a couple of U.S. military attaches, That'll give the Pentagon an excuse to nuke Tehran and bring the whole muslim shithammer down on U.S. citizens around the world. I firmly believe that's what's wanted by the current creeps-in-power because they SERIOUSLY believe (as a psychopath or meglomaniac might) that the American people would beg to be protected. At *any* cost. Leigh International Herald Tribune U.S. detains Iranians in Iraq By James Glanz and Sabrina Tavernise Monday, December 25, 2006 http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/25/news/raids.php BAGHDAD The American military was holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in two raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington. [A spokesman for the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, complained Monday that two of the Iranians detained by U.S. troops had been in Iraq at his invitation, The Associated Press reported. "The president is unhappy about it," said Talabani's media adviser, Hiwa Osman.] The Bush administration made no public announcement of the politically delicate seizure of the Iranians, although in response to specific questions, the White House confirmed Sunday that the Iranians were in custody. Gordon Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. He said that the two had papers showing they were accredited to work in Iraq and that they had been turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released. He confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation was carried out, and he said, "We continue to work with the government of Iraq on the status of the detainees." The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the detentions and warned that their arrests could have "unpleasant consequences." The ministry's spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said the Iranian diplomats had been invited by Talabani to provide help on security issues. "The Iraqi government is responsible for their release and the occupying forces should be held responsible based on international regulations," the ISNA student news agency quoted him a saying. "This move is against international regulations and can have unpleasant consequences," he added, and he said that the Foreign Ministry had summoned the Swiss ambassador, who looks after U.S. interests in Tehran, to hear Iran's protest over what he termed as "the undiplomatic move by U.S. forces." It was unclear what kind of evidence U.S. officials had that the Iranians had been planning attacks, and they would not identify those being held. One official said that "a lot of material" was seized in the raid, but would not say if it included weapons or documents that pointed to planning for attacks. Much of the material was still being examined, the official said. Nonetheless, the two raids, conducted in central Baghdad, deeply upset Iraqi government officials, who have been making strenuous efforts to engage Iran on matters of security. 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. invasion in 2003. He visited Iran for two days of talks with government officials to seek their support in quelling the raging sectarian violence in Iraq, the news agency reported. Iran, a Shiite Muslim country, has considerable influence among the Shiite majority here, elements of which have been blamed for the bulk of the recent attacks. It was particularly awkward for the Iraqis that one of the raids took place in the Baghdad compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders, who traveled to Washington three weeks ago to meet with President George W. Bush. Over the past four days, the Iraqis and Iranians have engaged in intense behind-the-scenes efforts to secure the release of the remaining detainees. Iraqi leaders appealed to the American military, including General George Casey Jr., the senior U.S. ground commander in Iraq, to release the Iranians, said an Iraqi politician familiar with the efforts. A senior Western official in Baghdad said the raids were conducted after U.S. officials received information that the people detained had been involved in attacks on official security forces in Iraq. "We conduct operations against those who threaten Iraqi and coalition forces," the official said. "This was based on information." Much about the raids and the identities of the Iranians remained unclear Monday. On Sunday, U.S. officials said an investigation was under way and that they wanted to give the Iraqi government time to figure out its position. A Bush administration official said the Iranian military officials held in custody were suspected of being members of a force that had been involved in training members of Hezbollah and other groups that the Americans regard as terrorist organizations. American and Iraqi officials have long accused Iran of interfering in this country's internal affairs, but have rarely produced evidence. The administration presented last week's arrests as a potential confirmation of the link. Johndroe said: "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." Nazila Fathi reported from Tehran.
