[10] In a report which was later confirmed by Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government,[11] The Independent noted that instead of the current captives, the U.S. had hoped to capture the deputy head of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Mohammed Jafari, and chief of intelligence of the IRGC, General Manuchehr Frouzandeh, who were on an official visit to Iraq ostensibly to improve co-operation in the area of bilateral security, during which they met the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
[5] The raid took place within hours of U.S. President George W. Bush claiming "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops" in an address to the nation.
Officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government said that consular activities, such as the issuance of visas, had been carried out by the office staff since 1992, and they were treated as if they were accredited diplomats.
Security forces of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) reportedly surrounded three U.S. military vehicles to prevent them from further action.
[19] Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told state-run radio the raid was against a diplomatic mission since the presence of Iranian staffers in Erbil was legal.
Hosseini said the action by coalition forces reflected a continuation of pressure on Iran, aiming to "create tension" between Iraq and its neighbors.
[21] Some claim that the increased diplomatic tension created by this incident lead to the Iranian arrest of 15 Royal Navy personnel in a border dispute two months later.
[3] According to American journalist Robin Wright, the 2007 arrest of fifteen British sailors in the Persian Gulf was likely connected to the holding of the five Iranian officials.
The arrest of the British came three days after Nowruz, a date that the Iranian government had announced that it expected the five officials to be freed by, and which passed without their release.
One month later, four Iranian Americans with dual nationalities—Ali Shakeri, Haleh Esfandiari, Kian Tajbakhsh, Parnaz Azima—were detained for unspecified "crimes against national security".
[23] The Iranian consular officers were: Naser Bagheri, Mousa Chegini, Abbas Hatami Kakavand, Hamid Askari Shokouh and Majid Ghaemi.
[25] An International Committee of the Red Cross representative met the five Iranian employees in March 2008 and reported "they were in good health".