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The US raid on the Iranian Liaison Office in Arbil refers to the events of 11 January 2007 when the US military raided the Iranian Liaison Office (which was in the process of becoming accredited as an officially recognized consulate) in Arbil, Iraq, ostensibly to detain two senior Iranian officials but capturing five mid-level diplomats instead.〔 The US government's position is that the office was used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a local headquarters. However, both Iranian and Kurdish Autonomous Region officials state that it was a diplomatic mission in the city of Arbil (Irbil) in Iraqi Kurdistan. On July 9, 2009, US authorities released the five diplomats (Mohsen Bagheri, Mahmoud Farhadi, Majid Ghaemi, Majid Dagheri and Abbas Jami), after more than two and a half years imprisonment.〔( Iranians held in Iraq since 2007 released )〕 The US said this action was required under the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement.〔(US: Iranian Prisoner Release Not a Gesture to Tehran )〕 ==The raid== According to Iranian officials, five U.S. helicopters landed on the roof of the liaison office in Arbil. U.S. soldiers entered the building, detained five people and took away materials.〔http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/viewstory.aspx?storyid=354288&catid=0〕 The raid occurred between 3 to 5 a.m., when the U.S. troops entered the liaison office after disarming the guards.〔 Two senior local Kurdish officials said the forces confiscated computers and documents.〔(York Dispatch - Iraqi officials say multinational forces detained Iranian staffers from Tehran's consulate )〕 In a report which was later confirmed by Massoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government,〔(Kurd: U.S. Sought Other Iranians in Raid ), The Guardian, April 7, 2007〕 The Independent noted that instead of the current captives, the U.S. had hoped to capture the deputy head of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Mohammed Jafari, and chief of intelligence of the IRGC, General Manuchehr Frouzandeh, who were on an official visit to Iraq ostensibly to improve co-operation in the area of bilateral security, during which they met the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Barzani stated: "They (the commanders) came here and they came openly. Their meetings with the president and myself were reported on television. The Americans came to detain this delegation, not the people in the office. They came to the wrong place at the wrong time."〔〔 It was also reported that U.S. troops attempted to detain people at the Arbil airport that same day, but Kurdish forces intervened. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that there was almost a confrontation between U.S. and Kurdish troops at the airport but that "a massacre was avoided at the last minute."〔 The raid took place within hours of U.S. President George W. Bush claiming "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops" in an address to the nation. This was not the first time the United States had arrested alleged IRGC members in Iraq. A few weeks before, on 29 December, U.S. forces in Iraq released alleged Iranian IRGC members who were detained for alleged weapons smuggling after a raid conducted 21 December in Baghdad.〔(IndiaDaily )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「U.S. raid on the Iranian Liaison Office in Arbil」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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