Iran's ambassador to Baghdad says five Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped by US forces have been handed over to the government of Nouri al-Maliki.
"US occupying forces have handed over the five Iranian diplomats to the Iraqi Prime Minister [Nouri al-Maliki]," the ambassador told Fars news agency on Thursday.
"The diplomats will be transferred to the Iranian Embassy after meeting with the prime minister," Hossein Kazemi-Qomi said.
Three of the diplomats were among the five staff abducted in January 2007 by US troops in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil during a raid on the Iranian Consulate.
Two of the abductees were released later, and the three who were kept locked up were later joined by two other Iranians kidnapped elsewhere in Iraq by the US occupation troops.
Although they have never been charged or tried for any offence, the five remained in detention until today, despite repeated requests by the Iraqi government for their release.
The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in February that, not only was his government pressing for their release, but that he even 'would throw a party to celebrate their release together'.
>>>Iran helped defeat the original Bush proposed SOFA. The new version of SOFA was not only a victory for Iraqi people, but also a victory for Iran's foreign policy.
Person | About | Day |
---|---|---|
نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
Check out my website, you might find it of interest
by Iranian for Aryans on Fri Jul 17, 2009 09:46 PM PDTiranianforaryans.blogspot.com
Iraq's National Holiday
by capt_ayhab on Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:04 AM PDTPress TV say[The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in February that, not only was his government pressing for their release, but that he even 'would throw a party to celebrate their release together'.]
Press TV [monkeys' mouthpiece] is being modest, Iraq actually announced a national holiday for the occasion[My size 10 FOOT].
-YT
An111
by Shah Ghollam on Thu Jul 09, 2009 09:57 PM PDT"Now I hope that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security finally comes to itse senses and starts to round up IRI spies such as you in the U.S. "
It is time for a real cold shower for you!
Iranfirst : even if they were the same as Basiji thugs
by Bavafa on Thu Jul 09, 2009 09:21 PM PDTUS has no business to kidnap and hold them without any charges, or at least NOT as long as they beat the drum of "law obedient government",
They could be Basiji thugs and they could be not. That is for courts to find out. And any proud and true Iranian would want to deal with those thugs themselves not to outsource it to another regime.
Your hatred for IRI is blinding you to sell Iran and Iranians to any thing but Muslim
Mehrdad
P.S. Lets have Iran and Iranians truly first and let us ourselves deal with those thugs. God knows there are planty of them and their turn will come. Nothing is for ever.
jaleho
by minadadvar on Thu Jul 09, 2009 09:06 PM PDTAre you Ja _ _ _ Le _ Ho _ _?
Are you, self proclaimed writer (lol), philosopher (lol), artist (??), agnostic computer programmer ? Fairly bright with unimpressive academic credentials ?
Are you Iranian ?
Time to hide behind another fake username ? Maybe!!
P.S: All the world leaders are waiting in line to seek your advice/approval ?!! (lol) You are such a joke.
These IRI terrorists had no value..
by IranFirst on Thu Jul 09, 2009 02:55 PM PDTThese IR terrorists that IRI calls them diplomats (they are the same as the Basij thugs that kill our people every day), had lost their real value and US had got all the inteligence that they had (not their own inteligence since basijis are all dumb and idiots), the name of contacts , etc. So why keep them and feed these bastards. Talking with Antari will be interesting. I don't think O will dare talk to this monkey for a long long time (if at all) after the masacres in Tehran
Fantastic Makhmalbaf
by khaleh mosheh on Thu Jul 09, 2009 02:34 PM PDTIts good to see Makhmalbaf give the mulla worshipping piglets a good spitroasting.
Great
by Anonymous111 on Thu Jul 09, 2009 02:27 PM PDTNow I hope that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security finally comes to itse senses and starts to round up IRI spies such as you in the U.S.
'even stricter' Iran sanctions
by FYI (not verified) on Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:35 PM PDTClinton calls for 'even stricter' Iran sanctions
AFP - World News
Jul 8, 2009
CARACAS — The United States will call for "even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a TV interview broadcast here.
Washington remained concerned about what she called Iran's "pursuit of nuclear weapons," which could "be very destabilizing in the Middle East and beyond," Clinton told the private television network Globovision.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian energy purposes.
"We would ask the world to join us in imposing even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime," Clinton said in the interview, which was broadcast late Tuesday.
And noting the unrest in the country since the disputed June presidential election, she added: "We have seen in the last weeks that Iran has not respected its own democracy.
"It has taken actions against his own citizens for peacefully protesting," she said, referring to the mass demonstrations in response to the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The victory for the hardline incumbent, who enjoys the backing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparked fraud allegations from two of his rival candidates, ex-prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and reformist Mehdi Karroubi.
"I think it is not a very smart position to ally with a regime that is being rejected by so many of their own people," Clinton said in the interview.
The administration of President Barack Obama, Clinton added, thinks "it is not in the best interest" of the world to be doing business with Iran that would "promote the regime... that is not smart."
Clinton also expressed concern at the political and economic alliance between Venezuela and Iran.
The South American country's strongman leader Hugo Chavez is Iran's main ally in the region. Chavez has defended Ahmadinejad numerous times in recent weeks.
"We call on the world to respect Iran because there are attempts to undermine the strength of the Iranian revolution," Chavez said in his weekly radio and television address last month after the election.
Iran dominated talks between Obama and Russian leaders Tuesday, with White House officials noting Moscow now seemed more receptive to US arguments.
US Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough said Obama was "struck by the candor with which President (Dmitry) Medvedev has underscored his concern about the growing threat from Iran."
While Tehran insists its nuclear program is strictly for energy production, the United States has long voiced fears that it could be used to manufacture an atomic bomb.
Iran -- whose president has called for Israel to be wiped from the map -- also possesses missiles capable of reaching targets throughout the Middle East that could be fitted with nuclear warheads if Tehran possessed them.
Nothing but propaganda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by LOL (not verified) on Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:27 AM PDTI guess the following are all "CNN-Twiter-facebook propaganda"!!!!
//iranian.com/main/2009/jul/18-tir-2009
I don't think so!!
by Jaleho on Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:16 AM PDTyou said: "Next step after freeing the Iranian hostages is to remove the sanctions. "
--With TRAITORS like Makhmalbaaf going around EU parliament begging the Europeans for more sanctions on Iran,
--considering that had he done similar things in Israeli-Occupied-US-Congress which is dying for more sanctions on Iran anyway, he would have had a standing ovation,
--considering that Obama has just recently renewed the sanctions that was initiated under Clinton and renewed under Bush,
you can bet that removal of sanctions is NOT a realistic next step.
In fact, the release of Iranin diplomats has been such an adamant request from Iran, that US would expect something in return before going ahead with more positive gestures. One thing is sure, those who think Obama will be stupid enough to endanger a relation with Iran based on the CNN-Twiter-facebook propaganda are completely wrong and will get a rude awakening by a faster than expected US-Iran rapprochement!
I think the next step instead of a reduction of sanctions, will be in the other direction: Iran helping the US in Afghanistan a little bit in exchange for Obama not making stupid mistakes of Bush and the neocons, and the good gesture of releasing the diplomats.
To Jaleho
by Advisor (not verified) on Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:15 AM PDTDear
The U.S. cannot save your regime so do not place too much hope on Obama to save your beloved regime from her inevitable doom.
To Ostaad: the final step for Obama interested in rapprochement
by To add (not verified) on Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:10 AM PDTand the final step would be to declare Mahmood as the legal life-long president of Iran and Mojtaba Khameneii as successor to his Supreme leader daddy. How about that?
Iran also helped defeat Bush's original constitution drafted by
by Ostaad on Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:00 AM PDTNoah Feldman, an American Jew (//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Feldman)
Iran also supported Sistani's crucial Fatwa to defeat the utterly undemocratic scheme that Paul Bremer intended to impose on Iraq. The US wanted to establish "caucuses", whose members were vetted by Paul Bremer exactly like Khamenie's role in Iran's election, but Sistani announce any constitution or election not instituted and managed by Iraqis is illegal.
This is yet another sign from Obama that he's genuinely interested in a real rapprochement with Iran.
Next step after freeing the Iranian hostages is to remove the sanctions.