Report: Kidnapped Iranian diplomat released

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".

TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian diplomat seized two months ago in Iraq by uniformed gunmen has been released -- a move that suggested progress Tuesday in British efforts to win the freedom of 15 sailors and marines held by Iran...

In Baghdad, an Iraqi official said his government had exerted pressure on those holding the Iranian diplomat, Jalal Sharafi, in order to gain his release. Sharafi was released Monday and returned to Tehran on Tuesday.

The Iraqi official would not say who had held the diplomat. But another senior Iraqi official said Sharafi had been held by Iraqi intelligence. Both Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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