BAGHDAD, June 16: Three Iranian diplomats were briefly detained in Iraq, the US military said on Saturday. A US military spokesman said three Iranian diplomats were among a group of 10 people stopped by the Iraqi Army for driving in east Baghdad on Thursday, despite a curfew.

“After questioning, Iraqi officials verified three of the men held Iranian diplomatic passports and thus were released shortly thereafter to their embassy representatives,” Lt-Col Christopher Garver said in a statement.

The Iranian foreign ministry said that this broke international rules and complained that their diplomats were questioned for hours by Americans.

“Three diplomats of Iran’s embassy in Baghdad on their way back to Iran ... were arrested by Iraqi police forces,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted in the Etemad-i-Melli daily newspaper as saying.—Reuters