Iraqi soldiers check motorists at a checkpoint in Baghdad, Feb. 6, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Tuesday that U.S. troops in Iraq have nothing to do with the Sunday kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad, Iraq.

    "All we know is that the Iraqi government is investigating it and obviously we abide by and support the Vienna convention for the diplomats, but we don't really know a lot about it at this point," White House spokesman Tony Snow said at a news briefing.

    Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that its second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad Jalal Sharafi was kidnapped Sunday by gunmen linked to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

    The incident came as tensions between Iran and the United States were running high over the Iranian role in Iraq and the alleged Iran's ambition to develop nuclear weapons.

    Iran accused the U.S. forces in Iraq of "supervising the (kidnapping) operation," saying "Iran holds America responsible for the safety and life of the (abducted) diplomat."

    "This aggressive action violates the international law and Iran strongly condemns it," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.

    Tehran always denies involvement in the violence in Iraq. But U.S. officials have said they have evidence many of the deadly projectile bombs used in Iraq were made in Iran.

    Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations since 1979 when Iranian protesters seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and kept 52 people hostage for 444 days.

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    Iran says diplomat in Iraq abducted under U.S. supervision

    TEHRAN, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini Tuesday condemned the kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat in Iraq, saying it was operated under the supervision of U.S. forces there, the state media reported.

    "Second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad Jalal Sharafi was kidnapped Sunday by gunmen linked to the Iraqi Defense Ministry," Hosseini was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying.  Full story>>

     Gunmen kidnap Iranian diplomat in Baghdad

¡¡ BAGHDAD, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped a senior Iranian diplomat in Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi government official said on Tuesday.

    Some 30 gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms in more than 10 military vehicles kidnapped the second secretary of the Iranian embassy in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood on Sunday, said the official who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.  Full story>>