U.S. frees 9 Iranians it seized

BAGHDAD -- In a possible break in the U.S.-Iranian standoff in Iraq, the U.S. military on Friday released nine Iranians no longer deemed a threat, including two accused of membership in an elite force suspected of arming Shiite militias.

The handover -- planned for several days -- still leaves at least three high-profile Iranians in U.S. custody and doesn't significantly ease the many disputes between Washington and Tehran in Iraq. But it could open the door for another round of groundbreaking talks between the two nations, which have been without diplomatic relations for 28 years.

It also is seen as a possible gesture for Iran's pledge to block suspected cross-border weapons shipments to armed Shiite factions, whose attacks have been sharply reduced.

American soldiers delivered the nine men to the offices of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, where they were met by Iran's ambassador, an Iraqi government spokesman said. The former captives arrived in Tehran later Friday, Iranian state TV said.

The group included two men -- identified by the military as Brujerd Chegini and Hamid Reza Asgari Shukuh -- who were among five captured when U.S. forces stormed an Iranian government office in Irbil in January. At the time, U.S. officials accused them of being members of Iran's Quds Force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guards. Washington says the organization had been funding, training and arming Iraqi Shiite extremists to fight American forces.

A U.S. military statement issued Friday said the nine Iranians were released after a "careful review of individual records to determine if they posed a security threat to Iraq, and if their detention was of continued intelligence value." "All nine individuals were determined to no longer pose a security risk," it said.

But Friday's action was likely aimed more at Tehran.

In recent weeks, U.S. officials have expressed some optimism that the Islamic state may be willing to stop the alleged flow of weapons to Iraqi militants.

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iran had made such assurances. And on Tuesday, a U.S. military spokesman said Iran appears to have kept its promise.

Among the weapons Washington has accused Iran of supplying are EFPs, or explosively formed projectiles, which fire a slug of molten metal capable of penetrating even the most heavily armored vehicles. EFPs have been responsible for hundreds of U.S. deaths in Iraq.

The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, said last week that there had been a sharp decline in the number of EFPs found in the past three months.