CIA tortured me in Iraq, claims freed Iranian diplomat

An Iranian diplomat who was freed last week, two months after being seized in Iraq, said that he had been tortured by the CIA while in captivity at an Iraqi government installation. "Jalal Sharafi, in an interview with Fars, explained how he had been kidnapped and tortured severely by American forces with the help of [Iraqi] agents… under the supervision of the CIA," Iran's Fars News Agency reported. "He showed reporters the marks left by torture on his body that are now being treated by doctors," the official state news organization said. Images of Sharafi were not shown. When he was released on Apr. 3, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the diplomat was in good health but "did not know who had held him." Sharafi, however, later said he was abducted by agents bearing Iraqi Defense Ministry ID cards. He said he was taken to a base near Baghdad airport, where he was questioned in Arabic and English. "Questions asked by CIA agents were about the presence and influence of Iran in Iraq. They asked questions about the amount of aid Iran provided to the government of [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri] al-Maliki, Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups," he said. "When they were faced with my answers about the official relationship of Iran with the Iraqi government and officials, they increased the tortures. Many days they tortured me day and night," he said. The Iranian's comments follow the release of 15 British troops from Iran, who claimed they were ill-treated. Iran, Britain and the United States insist there is no link between the release of the 15 British sailors and marines after 13 days' detention and the cases of Iranians held in Iraq. Sharafi was kidnapped in February by gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms. An Iraqi government official said at the time Sharafi had been seized by 30 gunmen wearing the uniforms of an Iraqi army unit that often works with the US military in Iraq. Following Sharafi's release, US officials quickly denied involvement in his kidnapping. "The United States had nothing to do with Mr. Sharafi's detention and we welcome his return to Iran," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman. "The Iranian propaganda machine has been in overdrive since they paraded the British sailors around on TV. This is just the latest theatrics of a government trying to deflect attention away from its own unacceptable actions," Johndroe added. A US intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the CIA vehemently denies any role in the capture or release of Sharafi. The official dismissed any claims of torture, saying "the CIA does not conduct or condone torture." Although US officials denied any role in Sharafi's abduction, his release has led inevitably to suspicion that it was part of a secret deal that has also seen US forces grant access to five other detained Iranians in Iraq. The US military allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit five Iranian officials who were detained in Iraq three months ago after the military claimed they were aiding the insurgency. A Red Cross delegation that included one Iranian citizen visited the detainees, and a request for a formal consular visit with them is "being assessed at this time" by the US military, said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top US military spokesman in Iraq. In a briefing for reporters on Apr. 4, Caldwell did not say when the visit took place. A spokeswoman for the ICRC, Dorothea Krimitsas, confirmed that her organization had visited the Iranian officials but declined to provide details. In general, she said, such inspections involve multiple visits, and information about the detainees' treatment is discussed privately with the "detaining authorities." The Iraqi government has called for the release of the five Iranians, who were captured during a US military raid in January on an office providing consular services in the Kurdish city of Irbil. In an Apr. 8 statement, Iran's foreign minister warned that cooperation with Iraq could deteriorate if the Iranian diplomats detained by US troops in Iraq are not set free. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran is seriously pursuing the fate of the detained diplomats and urged Iraq to do the same, according to Iran's state broadcasting company's website. "If their efforts do not yield results, it will undermine Iran's aid to Iraq," the report quoted Mottaki as saying. The United States detained five Iranians in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in January and refused to release them or allow Iranian officials a chance to visit the men. Mottaki also criticized the UN Security Council for not responding to a letter he said Iran sent it to protest the US detention. "The UN Security Council has refused to show appropriate action in cases like the diplomats' abductions although it has repeatedly interfered in cases not related to its duties under pressure from major powers," the website quoted Mottaki as saying. In another sign of strained relations, Iran's Foreign Ministry said the country had no plans to meet with US officials on the sidelines of the upcoming conference on Iraq, Iran's state news agency reported.