Iran has summoned Iraq's top envoy to Tehran over the arrest in Baghdad of several reporters from Iran's state news agency and the fate of an Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq. An Iranian Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Thursday confirmed that Iraq's charge d' affaires to Tehran, Khalil Salman al-Sabihi, was summoned a day earlier by an Iranian official demanding the "quick release" of the reporters. Iran says Iraqi police on Monday arrested Mostafa Darban, the Baghdad bureau chief of Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency, and three Iraqi staff of the agency without explaining why they were detained. IRNA, in a report late Wednesday, said a Foreign Ministry official met al-Sabihi to strongly condemn the arrest as "an illegal and unacceptable act." Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said he was unaware that IRNA staff had been detained. The official also demanded details surrounding the fate of Iranian diplomat Faridoun Jihani, who was kidnapped July 4 while traveling from Baghdad to the southern Iraqi city of Karbala. On Wednesday, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Jihani may be released in the coming days.
