U.S.: Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force officer arrested in Iraq for transport of EFPs

Above: The Sulaimaniya Palace Hotel where the arrest took place.

Coalition forces arrest Iranian Quds Force officer

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces arrested an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Quds Force officer in Sulimaniyah today.

Contrary to recent diplomatic initiatives, this individual has been involved in transporting improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators into Iraq. Intelligence reports also indicate he was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign terrorists in Iraq.

The Quds Force is a covert action arm of the Iranian government responsible for aiding lethal attacks against the Iraqi government and Coalition forces.

From MNF-Iraq Command

US troops arrest Iranian in Iraq

Two other Iranians were detained in the raid but later released, a Kurdish official said. The Iranian still in detention is alleged by the US to belong to the Quds force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Brigadier Saif al-Den Ahmed, Sulaimaniya city's head of security, said the Iranian was arrested in a pre-dawn raid by US troops at the Sulaimaniya Palace hotel.

"About 20 American soldiers came in civilian cars, entered the hotel and the room of Mr Farhadi, taking him into custody," said Brigadier Ahmed.

The local Kurdish-led government was not notified of the operation in advance, he said.

Read the rest at the Guardian

U.S. detains Iranian in Iraq

A Kurdish official in the city, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that initially three Iranians were arrested but two were later released.

The three included the mayor of Qasr-e Shirin, a city close to the Iraqi border; the head of an office in the city that gives permits to Iranian merchants traveling to northern Iraq; and a merchant, the official said.

The official, from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, said the person kept in custody was the head of the merchant permits office. He did not identify any of the Iranians.

Read the rest at Yahoo News

U.S. arrests Iranian allegedly linked to explosives in Iraq

The U.S. military said today that they arrested an Iranian who allegedly was involved in transporting explosives used against U.S. and Iraqi security forces, as well as training terrorists on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The suspect, Aghawi Farhadi, was one of three men arrested before dawn at a hotel in Sulaymaniyah, a largely Kurdish city in northern Iraq, according to witnesses. About 20 U.S. soldiers arriving in civilian cars entered the Sulaymaniyah Palace hotel at about 4:30 a.m., witnesses said...

U.S. authorities would not release details of the arrest, nor the evidence linking Farhadi to so-called explosively formed penetrators, bombs that can pierce tank armor. U.S. officials say the explosives originate in Iran.

Read the rest at the LA Times

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