A U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, said the three Iranians were among a group of 10 people stopped for driving east Baghdad on June 14 during a curfew.
Garver said Iraqi officials released the Iranians to their embassy representatives after verifying their identities as diplomats.
In Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the detentions violated international law and that the diplomats were questioned for hours.
U.S.-Iranian tensions remain high over the arrest of five Iranians in Irbil in January.
(Reuters)
Iraq And Iran
WHAT IS GOING ON? On March 8, RFE/RL's Washington office hosted a roundtable discussion on relations between Iraq and Iran. Although most analysts agree that Iran has been actively involved in Iraq since the U.S.-led military operation to oust former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, they continue to debate the nature, extent, and intent of that involvement.
The RFE/RL briefing featured WAYNE WHITE, former deputy director of the U.S. State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research's Office of Analysis for the Near East and South Asia, and A. WILLIAM SAMII, RFE/RL's regional analyst for Iran and editor of the "RFE/RL Iran Report."
LISTEN
Listen to the complete RFE/RL briefing (about 75 minutes):
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