Iran urges US to free other nationals still held in Iraq (Roundup)

Nov 9, 2007, 13:13 GMT

Tehran - Iran on Friday urged the United States to immediately release the remaining Iranian nationals still held in Iraq, as nine freed Iranians arrived in Tehran.

The US forces have arrested Iranian nationals in recent months, including five staff of the Iranian consulate in January in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, on charges of offering assistance to armed groups in Iraq.

Iraqi officials earlier Friday handed over nine Iranians, detained by US forces in Iraq, to Iranian embassy officials in Baghdad.

'Islamic Republic of Iran advises American officials to respect the principles of consulate and human rights conventions and immediately release the remaining Iranians,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said in a statement carried by state television IRIB on its website.

The US military in Iraq had on Tuesday said it would release the nine Iranians from custody, including five that Tehran insists are diplomats.

Two diplomats, Hamid-Reza Asgari and Moussa Chegini, had been among the nine arrested in city of Arbil and released on Friday.

The nine were reunited with their families in Tehran on Friday afternoon and officially welcomed by foreign ministry officials at Imam Khomeini International Airport, a witness told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.

'Iran has constantly said the detained Iranians were innocent and the US had no evidence against them,' Hosseini said in a statement adding, 'the release of Iranians proved this fact that Americans must set aside their unilateral stance in order to settle the situation in Iraq.'

Washington has frequently accused Iran of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq. Tehran denies the allegations and argues that the personnel were diplomats, a claim rejected by the US.