Jalal Talabani

Baghdad, Jan. 14 (Reuters): The US military said today that five Iranians held by its troops in Iraq are linked to Revolutionary Guards who are arming and funding Iraqi militants but Tehran called them diplomats and demanded they be released.

The row over the five tested the Iraqi government’s ties with Washington as President Jalal Talabani left for Syria, another foe of US President George W. Bush who this week vowed to stop the support for insurgents from both Syria and Iran.

Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the Iranians were not accredited as diplomats but were working with Iraqi approval. Calling for their release, he said the incident underlined the “delicate balance” Baghdad is trying to strike.

“We fully respect the views, policies and strategy of the United States which is the strongest ally to Iraq but the Iraqi government has national interests of its own,” Zebari said. “We can’t change the geographical reality that Iran is our neighbour. This is a delicate balance and we are treading a very thin line.”

The five men were arrested on Thursday in a US raid on an Iranian government office in the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil. Zebari, a Kurd, said the mission was in the process of being granted consular status.

As the row over the Iranians brewed, Talabani, also an ethnic Kurd, left today for Syria, which the Bush administration says allows weapons and fighters to cross its border into Iraq in support of the anti-US insurgency.

Talabani’s visit to Damascus is the first by a senior Iraqi official since the two countries resumed diplomatic ties last month after more than two decades of boycott.

“We hope the Syrians will help Iraqis stabilise security,” Talabani said before leaving.

Aides say he will ask Damascus to stop insurgents entering Iraq. Both Syria and Iran deny that they provide support to militants in Iraq.

The Arbil raid was the second such operation in a month and came as Bush issued a blunt warning to Iran over its activities in Iraq. It sparked concerns that the conflict may widen as Washington prepares to send additional troops to Iraq to quell soaring sectarian violence there.