Monday, April 09, 2007
Iran bans al-Maliki's plane from its airspace
Iran, Iraq
(Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has arrived in Japan after a marathon journey during which
Iran refused to allow his plane to cross its air space. Maliki's plane landed at 11:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) on Sunday, an official at Haneda airport in Tokyo said, after an unplanned stop in Dubai and another break in Bangkok.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser who is accompanying Maliki on a trip to Japan and South Korea, said the Iranian aviation authorities had ordered the plane to turn back after it entered Iranian air space at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Rikabi said it was unclear why Iran had barred Maliki's plane from crossing its territory.
Asked about the reports, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini implied Maliki's plane may have faced an issue over permission to fly across Iran but said it was not an unusual problem. "Permission for Maliki's flight is a normal issue. All flights need permission," he told a weekly news conference in Tehran, without giving further details.
Iraq's U.S.-backed government has often had to tread a delicate path in trying to maintain good relations with both Iran, its neighbor to the east, and the United States. Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Tehran last September to urge Iran not to interfere in Iraq. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, made an official trip to Tehran in November.
Iran refused to allow his plane to cross its air space. Maliki's plane landed at 11:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) on Sunday, an official at Haneda airport in Tokyo said, after an unplanned stop in Dubai and another break in Bangkok.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser who is accompanying Maliki on a trip to Japan and South Korea, said the Iranian aviation authorities had ordered the plane to turn back after it entered Iranian air space at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Rikabi said it was unclear why Iran had barred Maliki's plane from crossing its territory.
Asked about the reports, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini implied Maliki's plane may have faced an issue over permission to fly across Iran but said it was not an unusual problem. "Permission for Maliki's flight is a normal issue. All flights need permission," he told a weekly news conference in Tehran, without giving further details.
Iraq's U.S.-backed government has often had to tread a delicate path in trying to maintain good relations with both Iran, its neighbor to the east, and the United States. Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Tehran last September to urge Iran not to interfere in Iraq. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, made an official trip to Tehran in November.
Labels: air space, Iran, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, Nouri Al-Maliki, Sadiq al-Rikabi
Iran warns of consequences if detained Iranians in Iraq are not released
Security, Iran, U.S.
(Reuters) - Iran has warned neighboring Iraq that its failure to secure the release of five Iranians detained there by U.S. forces could impair Tehran's cooperation with Baghdad, a senior official was quoted on Sunday as saying. Washington says the five men, detained in January in northern Iraq, are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and were backing militants. Iran insists they are diplomats, wants them freed and has requested access.
"We are serious about the way we will confront those behind the arrest of the Iranian diplomats in Iraq," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency, seen as close to the Revolutionary Guards. "On Friday I sent a letter to the Iraqi foreign minister and other officials in Iraq and pointed out that their efforts over the release of the diplomats have had no results and I emphasized that if this situation continues we will have problems in taking other steps to help Iraq," he said.
Mottaki's Iraqi counterpart, Hoshiyar Zebari, said he had not received any letter. He insisted his government was working hard to secure the release of the five. "They know very well that the Iraqi government has done, and is doing, its best to try to facilitate their release. We still have not received any confirmation from the Americans that they will release them. "But we hope that this will not be a reason to disturb our bilateral relations," he told Reuters in Baghdad.
"We are serious about the way we will confront those behind the arrest of the Iranian diplomats in Iraq," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency, seen as close to the Revolutionary Guards. "On Friday I sent a letter to the Iraqi foreign minister and other officials in Iraq and pointed out that their efforts over the release of the diplomats have had no results and I emphasized that if this situation continues we will have problems in taking other steps to help Iraq," he said.
Mottaki's Iraqi counterpart, Hoshiyar Zebari, said he had not received any letter. He insisted his government was working hard to secure the release of the five. "They know very well that the Iraqi government has done, and is doing, its best to try to facilitate their release. We still have not received any confirmation from the Americans that they will release them. "But we hope that this will not be a reason to disturb our bilateral relations," he told Reuters in Baghdad.
The families of five Iranians held for three months in US detention in Iraq met an International Committee of the Red Cross representative on Sunday to ask for news about their health, state media said. Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said earlier that no Iranian official has so far visited the men, who were arrested in northern Iraq in January on accusations of seeking to stir the insurgency. ICRC representatives have seen the detainees twice, and the US has confirmed there were no Iranians among the visiting team.
Labels: Hoshyar Zibari, ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross, Iranian detainees, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, Revolutionary Guards, U.S.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Iran won't meet with U.S. at Baghdad conference
Politics, International
(AP) Iran will not necessarily have direct talks with the United States if it attends an upcoming regional conference about Iraq's security crisis, an Iranian official said Sunday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini said Iran will announce "in the near future" whether it will attend the March 10 conference in Baghdad. Syria, the United States, Britain and France have said they will participate.
Hosseini claimed the U.S. has proposed holding direct discussions with Iran over Iraq. Iranian officials have made those claims in the past, but U.S. officials have not confirmed proposing any talks. "Recently, the United States has proposed negotiations with Iran through different channels over the Iraq issue," Hosseini said. "Meeting with Americans on the sidelines of the Baghdad conference is not on the agenda of Iran, for the time being."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the surprise announcement Tuesday that a U.S. diplomat will be at the conference and that she herself will go to a later session. On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told CNN's "Late Edition" that he would represent the United States at the conference. He also said the U.S. has not decided if there will be any bilateral talks but "will be prepared to play our role as constructively as possible."
Hosseini claimed the U.S. has proposed holding direct discussions with Iran over Iraq. Iranian officials have made those claims in the past, but U.S. officials have not confirmed proposing any talks. "Recently, the United States has proposed negotiations with Iran through different channels over the Iraq issue," Hosseini said. "Meeting with Americans on the sidelines of the Baghdad conference is not on the agenda of Iran, for the time being."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the surprise announcement Tuesday that a U.S. diplomat will be at the conference and that she herself will go to a later session. On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told CNN's "Late Edition" that he would represent the United States at the conference. He also said the U.S. has not decided if there will be any bilateral talks but "will be prepared to play our role as constructively as possible."
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Iran, Mohammed Ali Hosseini
