.Arrested Iranians 'were trying to influence Iraqi government': BBC
Agence France Presse - Five Iranians detained by US forces in Baghdad last month were senior intelligence officers engaged in a covert political mission to influence the Iraqi government, the BBC said Thursday.
"There were five senior officers in various intelligence organisations... It was a very significant meeting... These people have been collared, relatively speaking, up to no good," one unnamed British official told the broadcaster.
US forces detained 10 people on December 21 on suspicion of weapons smuggling after finding what they said were documents, maps, photographs and videos in a raid at pro-Iranian Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's compound.
Military commanders said the 10, two of whom were Iranian, were linked to "illegal activities", including potential attacks on coalition forces.
Three Iranian diplomats were detained in a vehicle in Baghdad the previous day but later released.
The BBC's flagship political programme Newsnight cited British authorities in Iraq as saying that while the arrests produced highly important intelligence information, there was no "smoking gun" about weapons supplies or attacks.
Instead, the Iranians were there to hold high-level meetings with representatives of several Iraqi Shiite factions that have come to prominence since the fall of president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"There was discussion of whether the Maliki government would succeed, who should be in which ministerial jobs... It was a very significant meeting," one official said.
"The fact of who some of the Iranians were is very significant."
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said later he had invited the two Iranians detained at Hakim's compound to Iraq as part of an agreement between Baghdad and Tehran to improve security.
His office said he was "unhappy" with the arrests, increasing tensions between Washington and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government in Baghdad, which is pursuing closer ties with Iran.
The two Iranians were released last Friday. Shiite-dominated Iran -- which the coalition claims orchestrates attacks on its forces in Iraq -- said the arrests were an embarrassment for the United States.
The BBC said US sensitivity to the matter comes from discovering evidence that Iran is trying to turn the situation in Iraq to its advantage, to the extent of trying to influence the make-up of the Baghdad government.
Washington is now urging Baghdad to declare the Iranians arrested as personae non grata and ban them from returning to Iraq, it added.
The New York Times last week quoted White House officials as saying two of the men were "senior military officials" with links to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit that trains Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerrilla movement.
The White House said it would wait for the results of an investigation before characterising the Iranians' activities, but suggested it confirmed Iranian "meddling" in Iraqi affairs.
Hakim, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) which is part of Maliki's ruling coalition, met US President George W. Bush in the White House earlier in December.
NCR-Iran
"There were five senior officers in various intelligence organisations... It was a very significant meeting... These people have been collared, relatively speaking, up to no good," one unnamed British official told the broadcaster.
US forces detained 10 people on December 21 on suspicion of weapons smuggling after finding what they said were documents, maps, photographs and videos in a raid at pro-Iranian Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's compound.
Military commanders said the 10, two of whom were Iranian, were linked to "illegal activities", including potential attacks on coalition forces.
Three Iranian diplomats were detained in a vehicle in Baghdad the previous day but later released.
The BBC's flagship political programme Newsnight cited British authorities in Iraq as saying that while the arrests produced highly important intelligence information, there was no "smoking gun" about weapons supplies or attacks.
Instead, the Iranians were there to hold high-level meetings with representatives of several Iraqi Shiite factions that have come to prominence since the fall of president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"There was discussion of whether the Maliki government would succeed, who should be in which ministerial jobs... It was a very significant meeting," one official said.
"The fact of who some of the Iranians were is very significant."
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said later he had invited the two Iranians detained at Hakim's compound to Iraq as part of an agreement between Baghdad and Tehran to improve security.
His office said he was "unhappy" with the arrests, increasing tensions between Washington and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government in Baghdad, which is pursuing closer ties with Iran.
The two Iranians were released last Friday. Shiite-dominated Iran -- which the coalition claims orchestrates attacks on its forces in Iraq -- said the arrests were an embarrassment for the United States.
The BBC said US sensitivity to the matter comes from discovering evidence that Iran is trying to turn the situation in Iraq to its advantage, to the extent of trying to influence the make-up of the Baghdad government.
Washington is now urging Baghdad to declare the Iranians arrested as personae non grata and ban them from returning to Iraq, it added.
The New York Times last week quoted White House officials as saying two of the men were "senior military officials" with links to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit that trains Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerrilla movement.
The White House said it would wait for the results of an investigation before characterising the Iranians' activities, but suggested it confirmed Iranian "meddling" in Iraqi affairs.
Hakim, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) which is part of Maliki's ruling coalition, met US President George W. Bush in the White House earlier in December.
NCR-Iran
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