|
Condoleezza Rice Warns Iran After U.S.
Raids Iranians In Iraq
12.1.2007
|
|
|
|
January 12, 2007
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned
that the United States will not "stand idly by" if
Iran tries to disrupt Washington's renewed efforts
to stabilize Iraq.
Rice's comment came after U.S. forces early on
January 11 raided an Iranian diplomatic office
in Erbil, the
capital of northern Iraqi Kurdistan region.,
detaining five people and seizing computers and
documents.
It also follows a stern warning from the top
military adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush,
in which General Peter Pace claimed that "it is
clear that the Iranians are complicit in providing
weapons, and it is also clear that we will do all we
need to do to defend our troops in Iraq by going
after the entire network, regardless of where those
people come from." |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice |
U.S. Suspicions
U.S. officials say the Iranians detained in Erbil,
in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, are suspected of
being involved in anti-Iraqi activities.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the
Iranians were being questioned, but he did not give
more details.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
said the Iranians were working with official
sanction. But he said today that their "liaison
office" in Irbil was not a full consulate and did
not enjoy diplomatic protection.
The arrests drew condemnation from Tehran, but also
from Iraq's regional Kurdish government, which said
it "was not aware in advance of the raid."
Connections With Iran
Many Kurds, including Iraqi President Jalal Talabani,
had close ties to Iran before the U.S.-led invasion
in 2003.
Kaveh Fatah, a journalist in Erbil, speaking to
Radio Farda on January 11, said the raid obviously
happened without the knowledge of the local
authorities and put local Kurdish and U.S. forces on
the verge of confrontation. Fatah said U.S. soldiers
were apparently prevented from flying the Iranians
out of the city.
"The government of Iraqi Kurdistan has said that it
was unaware of the incident," Fatah reported. "On
the other hand, when U.S. forces wanted to transfer
detainees from Erbil’s international airport to an
unknown location, Kurdish security forces prevented
them from doing so and said that the U.S. forces had
not informed Kurdish [officials]."
It remains unclear where the detainees are currently
being held.
Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on January 11 that the
United States would not allow further
destabilization in Iraq.
"If the government in Tehran wants to help stabilize
the region, as it now claims, then it should end its
support for violent extremists who destroy the
aspirations of innocent Lebanese, Palestinians, and
Iraqis," Rice said. "And it should end its pursuit
of nuclear weapons."
In late December, U.S. troops elsewhere in Iraq
detained at least two Iranians and released two
others who had diplomatic immunity.
rferl org
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 