Iranian diplomat abducted in Shiite area of Baghdad by Iraqis with official ID

Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, Iran's Ambassador to Iraq, said the kidnapping was "within the framework of U.S. president's order to step up encounters with Iranians".

Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms seized an Iranian diplomat as he drove through central Baghdad, officials said Tuesday. Iran said it held the United States responsible for the diplomat's "safety and life."

One Iraqi government official said the Iranian diplomat was detained Sunday by an Iraqi army unit that reports directly to the U.S. military. A military spokesman denied any U.S. troops or Iraqis that report to them were involved.

"We've checked with our units and it was not an MNF-I (Multi-National Forces - Iraq) unit that participated in that event," said Lt.-Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman.

The Iranian government condemned the seizure of Jalal Sharafi, second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, saying he was taken Sunday by gunmen who "operate under the supervision of the American forces in Iraq," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

"Iran holds American forces in Iraq responsible for the safety and life of the Iranian diplomat," IRNA quoted him as saying.

The incident comes as tensions have been rising between Iran and the United States and the Shiite-led Iraqi government has shown increasing impatience with both sides for letting their disagreements spill over the border, with the U.S. detentions of at least eight Iranians in recent months.

The White House has authorized U.S. troops in Iraq to kill or capture Iranian agents deemed to be a threat, saying evidence is mounting that Iran is supporting terrorists inside Iraq and is a major supplier of bombs and other weapons used to target U.S. forces. Iran has denied the charges.

The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, said the gunmen used American vehicles, and the diplomat's seizure appeared to be "within the framework of U.S. president's order to step up encounters with Iranians" in Iraq, Iranian state television reported.

He also told state TV that al-Maliki had appointed a team to investigate the fate of the Iranian diplomat.

There were conflicting descriptions of the abduction.

An official with the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the diplomat was heading to check on the planned opening of an Iranian bank Sunday in the central Karradah neighbourhood when he was seized by men wearing Iraqi army uniforms.

The Iraqi government official, who also requested anonymity, said the diplomat was seized at 6 p.m. after his vehicle was intercepted by Iraqi commandos who were part of a unit that reports directly to the U.S. The official said some of the Iraqi troops involved were detained after a gunfight with police but they were released Monday.

Two other Iraqi officials said earlier that the diplomat was kidnapped by gunmen in Karradah, which has been hit by several recent bombings, and they expected negotiations to start to secure his release.

Garver, the U.S. military spokesman, said the American military had not found anything to indicate its units were involved.

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