An Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital, Tehran said on Tuesday, as security forces pressed on with troop deployments in Baghdad ahead of a United States-Iraqi crackdown to curb raging violence.
As the troops took up positions in Baghdad, violence continued in Iraq with at least five people killed and four others found murdered, Iraqi security officials said.
Gunmen “linked to the Defence Ministry” of Iraq kidnapped an Iranian diplomat, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
“Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the embassy in Baghdad, was abducted on Sunday by a group linked to the Defence Ministry, which operates under the supervision of US forces in Iraq,” Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
He said the kidnapping took place in front of the Baghdad branch of the Iranian state-owned bank Bank Melli.
The New York Times reported earlier that the diplomat was seized when his convoy was stopped by men with official Iraqi Defence Ministry identification cards in Baghdad’s Karrada district.
The report, quoting Iraqi officials, said that security forces captured several suspects after pursuing their vehicles through the streets of Baghdad. “The vehicle with the diplomat was not caught, though,” it said.
The men captured in the chase by Iraqi forces were Iraqis with Defence Ministry identification, it said, adding this raised “serious questions about whether government forces themselves were involved in the abduction”.
A senior Iraqi official told the paper the credentials at first appeared to be genuine but investigators later received conflicting reports on whether the men had been dismissed from the ministry but somehow kept their identification.
The abduction came amid increased tension between Tehran and Washington after US forces last month raided an Iranian office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil and arrested five Iranians.
The men, who are still in US custody, were arrested on suspicion of supporting the insurgency in Iraq.
Tension between the two countries was further heightened amid speculation that Iran was behind the deadly attack on US troops in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala last month.
On January 20, five US troops were killed when militants dressed in American-style military uniforms raided a Karbala police centre. Four of the five were first kidnapped and then shot dead.
On February 2, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that it was not yet clear whether Iran played a role in the attack.
US military has also repeatedly accused Tehran of arming and supporting Shi’ite militias in Iraq which are heavily involved in the brutal killing of Sunni Arabs in Baghdad.
The militias are now going to be prime targets of Iraqi and US forces as they prepare a massive crackdown on the violent Iraqi capital.
About 80Â 000 Iraqi and US troops are to be deployed in Baghdad to rein in the violence, which has left thousands dead since last year and hundreds in the past week itself.
“The movement of our troops is in process and they will be arriving as per their schedule,” US Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver said, without elaborating on the security plan.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last month said that according to the security plan Baghdad will be divided into nine districts and each district will have an Iraqi military commander responsible for the region.
These Iraqi commanders will be supported by US troops.
Iraqi forces have already stepped up security in some districts of Baghdad, mainly on the eastern side of the Tigris river such as Sadr City, Rusafa and Karrada. Tanks and troops were seen deployed in these districts on Monday.
Rebel violence continued on Tuesday with at least five people killed in Iraq, including one in Baghdad in a roadside bombing. — AFP