Six Iranians held in a US military raid in northern Iraq were working there with the approval of the authorities, Iraq's foreign minister has said. In that case, why are authorities engaged in allowing forces inimical to their country to roam around?
The Iranian liaison office in Irbil did not yet have full consular diplomatic status but it had been operating for years, Hoshyar Zebari said. The US said it believed the six people seized in Thursday's raid had targeted Iraqi and US-led coalition forces. Russia said the raid was "unacceptable" and a violation of international law. "It is absolutely unacceptable for troops to storm the consular offices of a foreign state on the territory of another state," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said.
Tell that one to the Medes and the Persians.
"It is also not clear how this fits in with American statements that Washington respects the sovereignty of Iraq," he said.