7 Iranians Working For Electric Ministry In Iraq Have Been Arrested By U.S. Forces

US 'seizes Iranian group in Iraq'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6967850.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...nbagdad203.jpg
Video images showed a number of people being led from the hotel

8/28/2007

Seven Iranians working for the Iranian Electricity Ministry have been arrested by US forces in Baghdad, the Iranian embassy says.

A spokesman told the BBC the embassy had contacted the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and would send a formal protest letter in the morning.

He said the Iranians were in Baghdad in connection with the building of a power station.

The group were detained at the Sheraton Hotel where they were staying.

Video footage showed soldiers leading a group of men, blindfolded and handcuffed, out of the hotel in central Baghdad.

Other soldiers were seen leaving the hotel carrying what appeared to be luggage and a laptop computer bag.

The arrests come shortly after a speech by US President George W Bush in which he criticised Iranian interference in Iraq.

Tension between the US and Iran is running high - with the US accusing Iran of providing arms, money and military training to Shia insurgents in Iraq.

President Bush specifically stated that he had authorised his military commanders in Iraq to confront what he called "Iran's murderous activities" in the country.

Earlier the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that American power in Iraq was on the verge of collapse and this would lead to a huge vacuum which Iran would be willing to fill.

In January, five Iranians - who the US say are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and were training militants in Iraq - were captured in the northern city of Irbil.

The five remain in US custody."

I can see it now, "In retaliation for the detention of 7 Iranian workers, Iran has attacked the United States. President Bush has said these latest attacks against the United States are a declaration of war, and Iran will pay dearly."

Yup, hre is where it may very well start.

U.S. forces release 7 detained Iranians in Baghdad

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_6625043.htm

www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-29 14:50:50

BAGHDAD, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. forces on Wednesday released seven members of an Iranian delegation detained on Tuesday night at a hotel in Baghdad, an Iranian diplomat said.

One of the released delegation members has contacted the Iranian embassy in Baghdad early Wednesday morning, saying that he and his colleagues have been handed over to the Iraqi authorities, the diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said late on Tuesday that the detainees are official delegation members, who work for the power ministry, and were at the invitation of Iraqi government officials to sign an electricity supply contract.

The U.S. military said that they detained some Iranian citizens with Iranian passports and their Iraqi escorts at a checkpoint in the Abu Nuwas market on the east side of central Baghdad.

The troops stopped several vehicles and found that some Iraqi individuals were holding unlicensed weapons, the military said.

On Jan. 11, U.S. troops arrested five Iranians in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. The military said they were suspected of being closely tied to Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.

The Iranians denied any accusation that it was involved in violence of the war-torn country.

On Tuesday, U.S. President George W. Bush accused Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs and inciting violence in the country.

"I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities," said Bush, referring to Iranian involvement in arming Shiite militias in Iraq.

"The Iranian regime must halt these actions."