US Abduction of Iranian Diplomats Denounced as Illegal

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zibari has described the abduction of five Iranian diplomats by The United States Occupation forces as "unacceptable" and stated that the government of Iraq is urgently working to secure the release of the five hostages and that the Iranian diplomatic mission was working with the full knowledge and support of the Iraqi Government, and had existed in the Kurdish region for over ten years.

The leader of the Iraqi Kurdish party and President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani has also condemned the US military raid on Iranian consulate building, denouncing all the US claims regarding the Iranian consulate as untrue. KDP spokesmen Shokat Bamerni said:

"The Brazani forces due to none coordination of this operation by U.S. forces have condemned this issue and prevented the air transfer of the detained Iranians. Therefore U.S. forces were forced to transfer the detained via road and the latest news is that they have been given in to Iraqi forces in Baghdad."

The city of Arbil issued a statement accusing saying the Iranian building had diplomatic immunity and demanded the immediate release of the five hostages, adding that "Kurdish citizens will never accept such behaviours which jeopardise security in their province".

The Russian Foreign ministry said, "it is absolutely unacceptable for troops to storm the consular offices of a foreign state on the territory of another state," adding, "this is a flagrant violation of the Vienna convention on consular relations. It is also not clear how this fits in with American statements that Washington respects the sovereignty of Iraq."