Iranians detained in U.S. forces raid on consulate in Iraq

Kurdish forces were in control of the consulate building when a reporter went there after the raid. There was broken glass on the pavement outside the building, and no sign of the Iranian flag.

A statement from the United States military today did not mention the Iranian consulate specifically, saying only that American forces had conducted "routine security operations" in the Erbil area and took six people into custody. Other than saying they were "suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraqi and Coalition forces on Jan. 11," the statement did not say who the people were.

But the American statement did warn that "the Coalition will continue to work with the Government of Iraq to prevent interference by hostile actors in Iraq's internal security affairs."

Statements by the Iranian government were more explicit. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said that United States forces arrested five Iranian staff members at the consulate early this morning, and confiscated computers and documents.

The Iranian embassy in Baghdad has sent a letter of protest to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Hosseini told the IRNA news agency.

Muhamad Ahmad, a designer who lives near the consulate in Erbil, said he was awakened by the sound of gunfire and helicopters, which is unusual in the relatively calm Kurdish areas of Iraq.

The incident appears to be the most direct recent confrontation between the United States military and Iranian interests in Iraq. American officials have long accused Iran of sending weapons and money into Iraq to fuel violence; in December the American forces detained two Iranian men in Baghdad and accused them of running guns and planning sectarian attacks. The men were later released.

Today's developments come at a time when tensions are high between Iran and the United States over Iran's nuclear program, which it says is for energy purposes, and over what Washington has called Iran's instigation of sectarian and anti-American violence in Iraq. Together with the incident in December, the consulate raid called into question the extent of control the Iraqi state has over its own affairs.

Last night, President Bush rekindled his argument that a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq would, among other things, embolden Iran to develop nuclear weapons. He again accused Iran of contributing "material support" for attacks on American forces.

Today, General Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said in a news conference in Washington that the United States would act to defend American troops from attackers in Iraq, regardless of the nationality of the attackers.

He said that "with regard to those who are physically present trying to do harm to our troops, regardless of nationality, we will go after them and defend ourselves." Asked by a reporter if there would be more raids like the one this morning, the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, speaking alongside General Pace, said the United States has warned Syria and Iran not to destabilize the Iraqi government.

"But we leave to those who deal with issues of force protection how these raids are going to be taken out," she said. "I think you've got an indication of that in what has been happening, which is, the networks are identified, they are identified through good intelligence. They are then acted upon." Hosseini, the Iranian spokesman, also reacted sharply to the speech Bush gave last night about Iraq, telling the news agency that the dispatch of more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq was intended to prolong the United States occupation, and that it would increase insecurity and tension.

Referring to Bush's accusations that Iran and Syria were interfering in Iraq's domestic affairs, Hosseini said that Washington was seeking "pretexts for its failed policies" in Iraq.

IRNA also quoted an Iraqi Kurdish security official, whom it did not name, as saying that Kurdish forces were responsible for maintaining security in Erbil, including protecting the consulate. American forces "disarmed the Kurdish guards of the consulate and used force to enter the building," IRNA quoted the Kurdish official as saying.

By Christine Hauser

/The International Herald Tribune/