The United States Saturday denied involvement in the detention of an Iranian diplomat who said he was tortured by his captors, whom he said included US intelligence agents. "The United States had nothing to do with Sharafi's detention, and we welcome his return to Iran."
White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in this Texas town where President George W. Bush is spending Easter at his country ranch.
Jalal Sharafi, second secretary at Iran's Baghdad embassy, was quoted by the Iranian state news agency IRNA as saying he was "subjected to different forms of torture day and night" after his abduction in the Iraqi capital in February.
He said he was seized by Iraqi defence officials who rode in US military vehicles, and questioned by Arabic-speaking and English-speaking interrogators, including ones who he claimed were US intelligence agents. He said his captors tortured him and questioned him on "Iran's presence and influence in Iraq." He was freed on April 3.