Iran to see Iranians held by U.S. in Iraq

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TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian representative is to be allowed to meet five Iranians who have been held in Iraq by U.S. forces since January, Iran's official IRNA news agency said on Wednesday.

The United States says the five are linked to Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards and says they were providing support to militants in Iraq. Tehran denies the charge and says the men are diplomats.

Iraq said it had handed a request for such a meeting to the U.S. embassy about two weeks ago. There was no immediate confirmation of the report from U.S. officials. snip

Some analysts say the Revolutionary Guards who seized 15 British sailors and marines on March 23 in the northern Gulf may have been acting partly to send a message that Iran would not remain idle while its citizens were detained in Iraq.