The US military in Iraq has freed two Iranian prisoners from its custody, an Iranian diplomat at Tehran’s embassy in Baghdad said on Friday.
“Two Iranians have been freed by the Americans after co-operation with the office of the [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Nuri al-Maliki] and the Iranian embassy,” an Iranian diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat declined to give any further details about the two Iranians who were freed. It was not immediately clear when they were released.
The US military did not respond to requests to confirm the prisoners’ release.
However, Iran’s envoy to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, told Iranian state-run television that the two men were Ahmad Barazandeh and Ali Abdulmaliki, who were detained seven and three years ago respectively because they did not have passports.
“Barazandeh and Abdulmaliki came to Iraq for a pilgrimage but when they were arrested in Najaf and Samarra, they did not have their passports,” he said, referring to Iraqi cities where two holy Shiite Muslim shrines are situated.
He said that they had been handed over to the Iranian embassy and would return to Iran at “the earliest time” possible.
The US has detained several Iranian citizens in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion to oust Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. It accuses Tehran of training and arming Shiite militant groups.
Iran detained three Americans on July 31 last year after they strayed across the Islamic republic’s border while on a hiking trip in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The release of the two Iranian prisoners in Iraq came as the mothers of the three US hikers called for the trio to be freed as a “humanitarian gesture.”
Iran has given no official indication it is preparing to release the three, although the visit itself was seen as a breakthrough.
Washington insists the three hikers are innocent and should be released, emphasizing that they had mistakenly wandered across an unmarked border in a remote mountainous area.
On Wednesday, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi renewed accusations of espionage against the trio.
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