US finally frees Iranian diplomats held in Iraq

This is also published in Allvoices.

Of course there will be little news about this in the western mainstream media. It is of little concern that these diplomats who were seized in a raid on a consular office in Arbil were held without charge for two years. There was a huge outcry when some staff members of the UK embassy in Tehran were arrested but where is the outcry when the US raided an Iranian consulate in Arbil and kept some diplomats for over two years. They would not even be released now except that it is required under SOFA.

This is from presstv.

The US military has decided to free the Iranian diplomats that were taken hostage in Iraq. As part of its security accord with the Baghdad government, the US military will release the Iranian diplomats it took hostage in Iraq two years ago.
Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, said the diplomats would be released under the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) -- which requires the US military to deliver more than 1500 prisoners, including the non-Iraqi nationals, to the Baghdad government.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Hakim, the Tehran representative of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, has announced that the Iranian diplomats would be handed to the Iraqi government on Tuesday.
The Iranian diplomats were mostly abducted when US forces raided the Iranian consulate office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil.