Iran's Reaction

The British newspaper, The Independent, reports that the capture of British military personnel in the Persian Gulf was a retaliation for a failed American attempt to capture two high level Iranian intelligence officers in Arbil, Kurdistan. The two officers, General Mohammed Jafari and General Minojahar Frouzandia, were thought to be in a Iranian liason office located in Arbil. The surprise early morning raid conducted by airborne troops did not locate the targets there but took five lower ranking Iranian officers with them. They are still being held by the U.S. The general officers were in Kurdistan on an official visit during which they met with the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani. Barzani's chief of staff confirmed that the raiders were after Jafari. He is the deputy head of the powerful Iranian National Security Council. Frousandia is the intelligence chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran). The raid came a few hours after the Charlatan made a public statement on January 10th alleging Iranian support for attacks on American troops inside Iraq. The shoe dropped, but it did not explode.