Alleged US raid on Iranian Consulate

[Kirkhill]

U.S. Troops Raid 2 Iranian Targets in Iraq, Detain 5 People

By Robin Wright and Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 12, 2007; Page A16

U.S. troops launched two raids on Iranian targets in Iraq yesterday, following through on President Bush's vow to confront and break up Tehran's networks inside Iraq. Five Iranians were detained, and vast amounts of documents and computer data were confiscated, according to U.S., Iraqi and Iranian officials.

The two raids are part of a new U.S. intelligence and military operation launched last month against Iran, U.S. officials said. The United States is trying to identify and detain top officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' al-Quds Brigade operating in Iraq. The al-Quds Brigade is active in arming, training and funding militant movements, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, throughout the Middle East.

....

Last month, U.S. forces seized two senior Iranians -- Brig. Gen. Mohsen Chirazi and Col. Abu Amad Davari -- in the first round of raids. Chirazi is the No. 3 official in the al-Quds Brigade and the highest ranking Iranian ever held by the United States.


.....

Tehran contends that the five men detained are all diplomats, an assertion that Iraq's foreign minister and U.S. officials reject

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100427.html

.......The attack was denounced by senior Kurdish officials, who are normally America’s closest allies in Iraq but regarded the action as an affront to their sovereignty in this highly tribal swath of the country. Iran’s Foreign Ministry reacted in Tehran with a harsh denunciation that threatened to escalate tensions with the Bush administration.

....Witnesses said the attack was directed at a building that an American official described as a liaison office that was properly accredited with Iraq as an Iranian government facility. It was unclear whether the Iranians who were arrested carried diplomatic passports and whether the office was supposed to share some of the immunities enjoyed by embassies and consulates.

Local residents said the main function of the office was to process papers for people who want to go to Iran for visits or medical treatment. ....

A senior State Department official said that the Iranian office in Erbil was not technically a consulate, but rather a liaison office which also provided some consular services.

He said that American officials believed that the Iranians intended to turn the office into a consulate at some point, but that had not yet happened. Therefore, he said, the State Department does not consider the office to be Iranian territory......

A measured statement late in the day from Mr. Barzani’s (president of the semiautonomous territory of Kurdistan) office expressed “its sadness over these actions,” indicating that it believed the building had diplomatic immunity. “It is better to inform the Kurdistan government before taking actions against anybody,” the office said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/world/middleeast/12raid.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=489150d45b330eff&hp&ex=1168664400&partner=homepage

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Five Iranians detained by U.S.-led forces were working in a decade-old government liaison office that was in the process of being upgraded to a consulate, the Iraqi foreign minister said Friday.
But Deputy U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington that the U.S.-led forces entered the building because information linked it to Iranian elements engaging in violent activities in Iraq. 

Tehran condemned the raid in the Kurdish-controlled northern city of Irbil and urged Iraq to push for the Iranians' release.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the building where the Iranians were detained Thursday had operated with Iraqi government approval for 10 years.

"We are now in the process of changing these offices to consulates," he said. "It is not a new office. This liaison office has been there for a long time." ....

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/12/D8MK3JNO0.html

So we have this - Iranians were openly operating a Liaison Office in an area of Iraq that has a tenuous relationship with the central government.  They had the support of the locals but not yet the support of central government.  The Iranians were not yet accredited diplomats and may never have become so regardless of the wishes of Tehran AND the local Kurds.

Iranians in Iraq, including those with Diplomatic Immunity, have been engaged in illegal acts and detained.  This is legal.  Diplomats so engaged are returned to their home country "persona non grata".  Everyone else is subject to the local laws.

Meanwhile Baghdad and Kurdistan are at odds over who gets to make treaties with neighbouring countries.  This will no doubt have had an impact on when/if this place ever became a consulate.

Also, it is in the best interests of both Baghdad and Kurdistan to lay this at the feet of those "misguided" Americans (note the "more in sorrow than in anger" tone) allowing THEM plausible deniability so that THEY can continue to build relations with whoever is currently in charge in Tehran (a bit of an open question these days).

Finally we have new reports of bombs going off in the west of Iran (Baluchistan) with an election coming up -

TEHRAN: A car bomb exploded in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan, killing the only occupant of the vehicle, the official news agency IRNA reported on Friday.

"The explosive material was planted in a car at a Zahedan (the provincial capital) street, where the governor general's building is located," said the top local security official, Mohsen Sadeghi.

He said the incident occurred on Thursday at 9 pm (1730 GMT). Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi dismissed the idea that the blast targeted the provincial governor but said the explosion broke some windows in the building, the Mehr agency reported.

The minister also ruled out the possibility of any link between the incident and Iran's nationwide elections being held on Friday. "Based on our latest information, this incident was not related to the elections and the governor and it will not affect the elections either," he said.

A Zahedan MP, Payman Forouzesh, said the fatal explosion was caused by a percussion bomb and was followed by another similar blast. "Another percussion bomb in front of the university planted in a trash can went off and injured the leg of a citizen," Forouzesh was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency. "Security measures have been taken all over Zahedan and all the forces are on alert," he added.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=4799


the prospect that Khamanei may be dead or dying (or not)

http://joshuapundit.blogspot.com/2007/01/khamaneis-death-neither-confirmed-or.html


and Ahmedinejad losing to the moderates on the council that will replace Khamenei in the last elections, having his term curtailed by a year and then this:

Rafsanjani says road to be named after the "Martyr" Ahmadinejad

With Tehran swirling with rumors regarding the pending demise from cancer of Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i, the ultimate power jockey, Hojjat-ol eslam Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, hinted recently that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be forcibly removed from power if he doesn't resign voluntarily.

Following December's widely-boycotted elections, Rafsanjani has now taken over as head of the Assembly of Experts, the body that under the Islamic Republic constitution will name the Supreme Leader when Khamenei dies. In an otherwise fawning paeon to Khamenei ("whose death will have a shattering effect on the Iranian public, who idolize their leader and would largely view his loss as a catastrophe" [sic]), Stratfor notes that "t might be no coincidence Rafsanjani, in a recent talk with journalists, described a new highway currently under construction in Tehran, as the "highway of Shahid (martyr) Ahmadinejad." Hat tip to Gary Metz for pointing out the Stratfor piece.

http://www.krsi.net/news/Default.asp?PgNum=4

Like the Khamenei story it would be really interesting if it proves to be true...and not just disinformation.  Either way it is interesting.

 

[rmacqueen]

This could get very messy depending on where the truth lies.  If the feelings of the Kurds are not taken into consideration they could push to become an independent state, something neither Iran nor Turkey wants.  So much also depends on whether the office was in fact engaged in the activiites the US contends and whether they have evidence.  The fact that a cache of weapons, or proof of insurgency support, has not been spread all over the news leads me to believe they came up empty handed.  This would give the Iranians space to make this a diplomatic (propaganda) issue in the days to come.  It will be interesting to see what their next move is.

Domestically, the politacal fallout for Bush could be bad as well.  The increase in troops, coupled with this action, flies in the face of the Baker/Hamilton report on Iraq and makes it obvious that Bush has no intention of taking it seriously.  Baker still has a lot of friends and allies amongst the power brokers in Washington.

 

[rmacqueen]

Yup.

Since you support the idea of the ends justifying the means then you must support the actions of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, or do you only support it for our side, since we are always right?

 

[tomahawk6]

Since you support the idea of the ends justifying the means then you must support the actions of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, or do you only support it for our side, since we are always right?

What a ridiculous statement.

 

[rmacqueen]

What a ridiculous statement.

Yes it is, but you can't have it both ways

 

[tomahawk6]

Sure you can. You cannot equate US actions with those of a terror group.The bottom line in this raid was that it was not an official diplomatic facility and the Iranians there had no diplomatic immunity. One of the Iranians taken is thought to be Hassan Abbasi has been among the highest ranking members of the Islamic regime's terror operations for many years, acting as Khamenei's foreign policy and defense advisor. Abbasi has had an active voice under not only Khamenei but also Rafsanjani and Khatami as well. The Martyrdom Brigades of the Global Islamic Awakening is controlled by Abbasi.

 

[rmacqueen]

Sure you can. You cannot equate US actions with those of a terror group.The bottom line in this raid was that it was not an official diplomatic facility and the Iranians there had no diplomatic immunity. One of the Iranians taken is thought to be Hassan Abbasi has been among the highest ranking members of the Islamic regime's terror operations for many years, acting as Khamenei's foreign policy and defense advisor. Abbasi has had an active voice under not only Khamenei but also Rafsanjani and Khatami as well. The Martyrdom Brigades of the Global Islamic Awakening is controlled by Abbasi.

If you read back, I was referring to this:

Its war........and if its required then do it. If it turns out to be wrong then  apoligize to the offended country, better that then apoligizing to a dead soldiers children.

Simply put, the other side also believes they are at war as well

 

[GO!!!]

Yes it is, but you can't have it both ways

By that logic, it would be completely acceptable for Hamas/Hezbollah/IRA/ETA/West Side Boys to begin perpetrating violent acts in Canada or anywhere else because they should be viewed as a legitimate bargaining entity, on the sole basis of the ludicrous qualifier "we might not be right".

We (and I stress the collective "we" of the democratic west) may not be completely right. BUT we are a whole lot less wrong than the Iranians and the other theocracies in the area. Would you prefer to have Iran dictating policy to the US, or vice versa? I know which scenario I prefer!

Finally, if you don't think we are "right" you could stop collecting your blood money paycheque from the DND every month. Iran is our enemy, it has sworn to "wipe from the face of the earth" a Canadian ally, supports terrorist operations that have killed our citizens in the US, and our soldiers in Afghanistan. It willfully foments discord all over the ME and is seeking nuclear weapons, with which it will no doubt threaten and posture even more once it has them.

We are right - Iran is wrong, if you do not yet realise that, take a vacation there instead of Disneyland!

 

[rmacqueen]

We are right - Iran is wrong, if you do not yet realise that, take a vacation there instead of Disneyland!

And if we put aside our ideals and do what ever we want for the sake of convenience, we are better than them how?  The end cannot justify the means as any group or country can always justify their actions in some manner.

 

[tomahawk6]

And if we put aside our ideals and do what ever we want for the sake of convenience, we are better than them how?  The end cannot justify the means as any group or country can always justify their actions in some manner.

I dont know where you get this idea that the ends justify the means. This raid was not illegal. Also this is the second time that we have caught senior IRG officers in Iraq. There is no question that Iran is meddling in Iraq including support of both sunni and shiite groups that are attacking US/UK troops.

 

[rmacqueen]

I dont know where you get this idea that the ends justify the means. This raid was not illegal. Also this is the second time that we have caught senior IRG officers in Iraq. There is no question that Iran is meddling in Iraq including support of both sunni and shiite groups that are attacking US/UK troops.

Please read the entire thread and you will know what I am referring to

 

[Kirkhill]

Yes it is, but you can't have it both ways

You can.  Al Qaeda and the Taliban are wrong.  We are right. 

Edit: Sorry Go - Mac provoked me to reply before I read yours.  +1.

Mac keep going the way you are headed and you will deny any and all the right to any recourse but the power of prayer.  The other guys don't recognize our courts, or any other than their own - least of all the UN and ICC.  Ahmadinejad is sufficiently loony that he will declare it a success the day that the world disappears in a mushroom cloud - a worldview no doubt the result of too many hours spent as a twelve year old rolling around minefields in a carpet.  One of very few of his peers to survive the experience apparently.

This isn't about dealing with States according to the rules of law.  This is about dealing with raving loonies that have hijacked the mechanisms of State and are holding their own people, as much as the rest of the world, hostage.  NO war, not even "the last good war - WW2" has been won by playing by rules.  Camp X in Oshawa is continuing testimony to that.

 

[KevinB]

Please read the entire thread and you will know what I am referring to

Please read what we are writing and read what you wrote -- and see why at least I think your RTFO

 

[rmacqueen]

You can.  Al Qaeda and the Taliban are wrong.  We are right. 

Edit: Sorry Go - Mac provoked me to reply before I read yours.  +1.

Mac keep going the way you are headed and you will deny any and all the right to any recourse but the power of prayer.  The other guys don't recognize our courts, or any other than their own - least of all the UN and ICC.  Ahmadinejad is sufficiently loony that he will declare it a success the day that the world disappears in a mushroom cloud - a worldview no doubt the result of too many hours spent as a twelve year old rolling around minefields in a carpet.  One of very few of his peers to survive the experience apparently.

This isn't about dealing with States according to the rules of law.  This is about dealing with raving loonies that have hijacked the mechanisms of State and are holding their own people, as much as the rest of the world, hostage.  NO war, not even "the last good war - WW2" has been won by playing by rules.  Camp X in Oshawa is continuing testimony to that.

I will respond with a quote from another thread, made by someone in Afghanistan.

"We're not bad people in the classical sense. I don't mean to sound bitter or anything but the Taliban view us as the enemy. I'm sure most of them really believe that they're the good guys, doing good for the country, and we're the bad occupiers trying to force something on the people. But we're not. I mean, we're not here to take this patch of land on the side of a mountain, we're just trying to help them."

How can we defend our way of life if rules can be tossed out for sake of expediency and justify it simply by saying "we are right"?

 

[Kirkhill]

How can we defend our way of life if rules can be tossed out for sake of expediency and justify it simply by saying "we are right"?

Apparently you can't.  Any suggestions on how YOU might Dare to defend our way of life?

Edit:
No - more to the point - if you are personally assaulted by someone with "a restricted weapon" and he lost control of it but was still continuing the fight, would you leave the weapon on the ground while the beating continued?  Or would commit an "illegal" act by using the restricted weapon to even up the odds?

 

[KevinB]

:  your leading a productive life as a troll rmac.

You have decided based on your personal views against the US (and Canada ?) that a legal action was illegal -- and are creating an argument out of your distorted view of reality.

 

[rmacqueen]

Apparently you can't.  Any suggestions on how YOU might Dare to defend our way of life?

Edit:
No - more to the point - if you are personally assaulted by someone with "a restricted weapon" and he lost control of it but was still continuing the fight, would you leave the weapon on the ground while the beating continued?  Or would commit an "illegal" act by using the restricted weapon to even up the odds?

Ok, that is too much of a tangent to go down.  We could play hypothetical games all day which would be more appropriate for radio chatter

 

[rmacqueen]

:  your leading a productive life as a troll rmac.

You have decided based on your personal views against the US (and Canada ?) that a legal action was illegal -- and are creating an argument out of your distorted view of reality.

If you had actually read the thread you would realize that I am not arguing whether this is legal or illegal but Bruce Monkhouse's comment on the ends justifying the means.  Since the best you can do is to use insults and (the rather tired) argument that anyone not agreeing with a US action is anti-american, I see no further reason to continue.

 

[KevinB]

You chose to misinterpret Bruce's comment.

 

[Kirkhill]

OK - Tangent Stipulated.

At bottom I do think it comes down to what I-6 suggests: your world view.  Unfortunately that probably goes to the heart of the matter for you and many Westerners.  You don't see this as an existential struggle on par with World War 2.  

You may be right. I may be wrong.  You may honestly hold your opinions from honour. You may equally hold your opinions from fear - a fear that I may be right and the world is not a safe place where teenage Canadians with Maple Leafs on their backs can get drunk in foreign lands.  (My sister-in-law and my wife can both give the lie to that tangent).

The other side however, doesn't see it in the same vein.  They haven't seen it that way since 632 AD if not 2003, 2001, 1993, 1991, 1967, 1947, 1922.......1683......1571......1492...the Reconquista ....the Crusades...732... And that is just their European adventures - no mention of India, China, Africa and even Arabia.