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| Iran envoy 'abducted in Baghdad' | Iran envoy 'abducted in Baghdad' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| An Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped from his car by gunmen in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, a foreign ministry official in Tehran has said. | An Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped from his car by gunmen in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, a foreign ministry official in Tehran has said. |
| Jalal Sharafi, the embassy's second secretary, was abducted on Sunday from the central Karrada district by men wearing special Iraqi army uniforms. | Jalal Sharafi, the embassy's second secretary, was abducted on Sunday from the central Karrada district by men wearing special Iraqi army uniforms. |
| Iran condemned the kidnapping and held the US responsible for the diplomat's life, Iranian state media said. | Iran condemned the kidnapping and held the US responsible for the diplomat's life, Iranian state media said. |
| A US military spokesman said no US or Iraqi troops were involved. | A US military spokesman said no US or Iraqi troops were involved. |
| Identification puzzle | |
| Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told the Isna news agency that Mr Sharafi had been kidnapped by a group linked to Iraq's defence ministry "which works under the supervision of American forces". | |
| "The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the American forces in Iraq responsible for the life and safety of the Iranian diplomat," he said. | |
| Iraqi officials earlier said the gunmen were wearing uniforms of the Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion - a special Iraqi unit under US direction. | |
| US military spokesman in Baghdad, Lt Col Christopher Garver, could not confirm the diplomat's abduction. | |
| However, he said: "We've checked with our units and it was not a [multinational forces - Iraq] unit that participated in that event." | |
| Mr Sharafi was reportedly kidnapped outside the Baghdad branch of the Iranian state-owned Bank Melli. | |
| The details of the abduction are still confused. | |
| An Iraqi government official told Associated Press news agency there had been a gun battle and a chase after the kidnapping but the car carrying the diplomat escaped. | |
| Some men were captured but the New York Times quoted Iraqi officials as saying they had legitimate defence ministry identification. | |
| An official told the paper the men may have kept the identification after being dismissed. |