Iran May Skip Talks unless US releases six detainees from Irbil raid

THe Iraqi government has also asked for the release of the detained Iranians but heck don't the Iraqis know who is boss?

Iran May Skip Talks on Iraq If U.S. Keeps Six Detainees
Thursday, March 29, 2007; Page A15


Iran may not send a delegation to a key meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, tentatively planned for next month, unless six Iranians detained by the United States in Iraq are released, a senior Iranian official said yesterday.

The meeting on Iraq's future, planned for Istanbul or Kuwait, is a follow-up to a lower-level meeting held this month in Baghdad. The State Department hopes the meeting will provide a venue for Iraq to engage Iran -- as well as Syria and other key players -- on efforts to stabilize Iraq.








Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would face serious internal pressure not to attend a high-level meeting with the United States in light of the impasse over its military and diplomatic personnel, said the Iranian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the topic's sensitivity. Iran had expected five of the six to be released last week, at the beginning of the Iranian new year.

The five are members of Iran's elite al-Quds Brigade who were detained during a U.S. raid on an Iranian diplomatic office in the Kurdish city of Irbil in January. The United States alleged that they were "suspected of being closely tied" to attacks on U.S. forces. Computers, cellphones and other equipment seized there have produced intelligence on Iranian operations in Iraq, U.S. officials said.

A sixth Iranian -- embassy second secretary Jalal Sharafi -- disappeared in Iraq last month, and Tehran believes he is also in U.S. custody. Sharafi was reportedly abducted from his car by men in Iraqi military uniforms. A U.S. military spokesman denied U.S. or Iraqi involvement.


-- Robin Wright