US releases nine Iranians in Iraq

Two of the men were seized near the Iranian consulate in Irbil

The US military in Iraq has released nine Iranians detained there, including two held on suspicion of helping Shia militants, it has said in a statement.
The release followed a review of their cases which concluded that the men no longer posed a security risk and were "of no continued intelligence value".

The Iranians were released to the Iraqi government, which will later transfer them to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.

Tehran has dismissed US accusations that it is aiding insurgents in Iraq.

In October, the US declared the overseas operations arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) a "supporter of terrorism", saying it was supplying and training Shia militants in Iraq.