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U.S.-Iran Tensions Increase After Abduction of Diplomat

An Iranian diplomat was abducted by gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms late Sunday, increasing the already thick tension between the U.S. and Iran.

According to an official with the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, the official Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy, was on his way to check on the opening of an Iranian bank when his convoy was stopped in a Shiite section of the city, not far from where a truck bomb killed at least 135 people on Saturday.

Conflicting accounts of the abduction were reported. An Iraqi government official said that the diplomat was detained by Iraqi forces reporting directly to the U.S. troops, but an American military spokesman denied that any U.S.-led forces were involved. The Iranian government condemned the move and held the U.S. military responsible for the diplomat's "safety and life."

News reports gave no clear reasons why Jarafi would have been kidnapped, although the business of abducting ostensibly wealthy citizens for ransom has become big business in Baghdad since the U.S. occupation. It is not likely, however, that an Iranian with official ID would have been kidnapped for this reason. The New York Times speculated that it might have been done to damage the Iraqi government's relations with Iran or to cast doubt of the stability of the Iraqi government. While the U.S. denies involvement in this most recent incident, at least eight Iranian operatives in Iraq have been detained by U.S. forces in recent months.

Ironically, the incident occurred as one of the most powerful Shiite leaders in Iraq made calls for a dialogue between Iran and the United States.

"Given the special conditions in the region, talks between the United States and Iran are of the utmost importance," Abdel Aziz al-Hakim was quoted in a New York Times article. "Negotiations between Iran and the United States are useful for the whole region."

Iranian officials have intimated that they are receptive to talks with the U.S., but the White House has consistently ruled out the possibility of direct dialogue with Tehran, even dismissing the advice of the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group, which delivered a series of recommendations to President Bush in the fall. Tensions have been steadily mounting between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program and their suspected support of Shiite insurgents and death squads in Iraq. There are rumblings in the press that recent events, including the Bush's decision to increase the troop levels in Iraq by 21,500, are leading to a third front in the war on terror.