US frees 2 Iranian diplomats

TEHRAN—Two Iranians detained by American troops in Iraq and suspected of transferring weapons technology to insurgents in that country were released early Friday, Iran’s state-run television and news agency reported.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment. There was also no immediate response from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Iranian state TV referred to the Iranians as diplomats and said the release happened Friday. The two were handed over to Iranian officials in the presence of Iraq’s National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said Iran’s state-run news agency, IRNA. Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, said the arrest of the two diplomats was against internationally accepted regulations, IRNA said. “Fortunately with the effort exerted by the Iraqi officials, the U.S. forces, who first denied their arrest, were obliged to admit it and under pressure from the Iraqi government to release them,” IRNA quoted Qomi as saying.—Agencies