Have they been freed or not? Conflicting reports.
"Tehran officials condemn US detention of 8 Iranians in Iraq" by Ali Akbar Dareini/Associated Press August 30, 2007
TEHRAN -- The detention of eight Iranians in Iraq by US troops -- along with TV images of the detainees being led away blindfolded and handcuffed -- drew swift condemnation yesterday from Tehran officials.
[Because it is a VIOLATION of the Geneva Conventions]
The images were reminiscent of the iconic picture of Americans blindfolded by Iranian guards during the 444-day crisis when Iranian militants seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took 52 Americans hostage.
[They have to slip that in there, huh?
Do they ever tell you that the Iranian revolution was the result of Operation Ajax and the installation of the murderous Shah?]
The eight, members of an Iranian energy ministry delegation, were released yesterday. Saadi Othman, an adviser to General David Petraeus, the top US general in Iraq, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the detentions were "regrettable."
Videotape shot Tuesday night showed US troops leading the blindfolded and handcuffed Iranians out of the Sheraton Ishtar hotel in central Baghdad.
The footage was not shown on Iranian television, but the state broadcaster aired a brief clip showing a US military vehicle and an American soldier totting a rifle and walking into a building that may have been the Baghdad hotel.
Only state-run broadcasts are carried in Iran, but satellite TVs are common for watching foreign broadcasts. Internet images of the detention also could have reached many Iranians.
Handcuffing and hooding or blindfolding detainees in Iraq, who in nearly all cases are men, is standard practice by US troops. But the procedure is commonly perceived as highly insulting in Muslim culture.
[Violating Geneva AND hurling insults!
Great. NO WONDER everyone hates AmeriKa!]
The incident comes on the heels of harsh rhetoric Tuesday by both President Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader said US influence in Iraq is waning and that Tehran was ready to fill any power vacuum in the neighboring country.
Bush, in a speech to the American Legion convention in Reno, said he had given the order for US troops to confront Tehran's "murderous" activities in Iraq."
[Won't be long now]
"Iranians Seized in Baghdad Freed by U.S. After a Day" by Stephen Farrell/New York Times August 30, 2007
BAGHDAD, Aug. 29 — Members of an Iranian Energy Ministry delegation visiting Baghdad at the invitation of the Iraqi government were released Wednesday, a day after being arrested at their hotel by American troops and led away in handcuffs and blindfolds.
Iraqi and Iranian officials said the Iranians were in Baghdad to help resolve Iraq’s power crisis. American officials said they were detained when unauthorized weapons were found in their vehicles at a checkpoint. The Iranian Embassy confirmed that the group had been freed after being held overnight.
An Iranian Embassy spokesman: “They are in Baghdad to discuss power situation in Iraq with Iraqi power officials. They were arrested at 3 p.m. and released at 5:30 p.m., then arrested again at night yesterday. The Iraqi government intervened and later on they were released and now they are at the office of the Iraqi prime minister.”
[So they were arrested TWICE? What assholes we Americans are!
If they are at the Iraqi PM's office, are they free yet?]
Yasin Majid, a media adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq, told Reuters that the group was in Baghdad at the invitation of the Ministry of Electricity to help set up a power station in Najaf, a city that is holy to Shiite Muslims.
The American military said the delegation was originally allowed to proceed from the checkpoint beside the Tigris River on Tuesday to the state-owned Sheraton Ishtar hotel nearby. But American troops later arrived at the hotel, and television cameras filmed them leading the group away.
Saadi Othman, an adviser to Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, told BBC television on Wednesday that the detentions were “regrettable” and had “nothing to do” with President Bush’s remarks on Tuesday, when he lashed out at Iran for meddling in Iraq’s affairs and fomenting instability here, news agencies reported.
[Just a coincidence, huh? When Bush is just spoiling for a fight? Pfffffttttt!!!]
Videotape by Associated Press Television News showed American soldiers leading blindfolded and handcuffed people out of the hotel. The tape showed other American soldiers leaving the hotel carrying what appeared to be luggage and smaller bags.
In Tehran, Iran summoned a diplomat from Switzerland, which represents American interests in Iran, to protest the arrests, the national news agency reported Wednesday.
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, the Foreign Ministry spokesman: “Iran expressed its fierce protest to this unacceptable act, which was also against international regulations, to the Swiss diplomat to convey to U.S. officials, and to demand an explanation."
The United States military said the Iranians were detained after American troops confiscated an AK-47 rifle and two 9-millimeter pistols from the group’s Iraqi guards, who “had identification but no weapons permits and also had Iranian money.”
An American military statement issued in Baghdad: “While there, coalition forces confiscated a laptop computer, cellphones and a briefcase full of Iranian and U.S. money. Members of the group, including two people carrying diplomatic credentials, were questioned and that everyone was later released in consultation with the government of Iraq to Iraqi officials.”
[U.S. conduct is OUTRAGEOUS!]
Iran has protested the arrest of five Iranians in January by American troops in northern Iraq. The United States has said the five had links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards; Iran has denied the accusation, saying they were diplomats. The five men are still in American custody."
[Does being a bunch of lying, law-breaking thugs appeal to you, Amurka?
Because that is what your military has become under George W. Bush]
