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US: Captured Iranians no diplomats

ARBIL, Iraq, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. military Sunday said five Iranians being held by troops in Iraq have links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps., an insurgent group.

Iran accused U.S. forces of arresting the men at a diplomatic consulate. But the U.S. Army statement said the building where the men were detained did not have diplomatic status, the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, reported.

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The detainees are accused of providing military assistance to extremist groups that attempt to destabilize the Iraqi government and attack the US-led Multi-National Force in Iraq, KUNA said.

"Investigations revealed so far that the detainees are connected to the (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps)" the statement said.

Six Iranian nationals were arrested by U.S. troops in the northern city of Irbil last week. One of the men was later released.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel condemned the raid Sunday, saying the men were mission staffers who had been kidnapped, the Fars News Agency reported.

"These measures ... indicate the anger and paralyzed status of the Americans in Iraq," he said.

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