British Troops Raid, Raze Station House In Southern Iraq

Separately on Monday, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that they had released a group of Iranians that American forces had detained last week on suspicion of planning attacks in Iraq. Three or four of those detained were Iranians who had diplomatic immunity, said a State Department spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity. They were turned over to the Iraqi government, which in turn transferred them to Iran.

A White House spokesman, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said only two Iranians had diplomatic immunity. He said that the event could validate U.S. claims that Iran was meddling in the affairs of Iraq but that the United States wanted to complete the investigation "before characterizing their activities."

It was unclear Monday what evidence of planned attacks the Americans had for detaining the Iranians. Also unclear was why the Iranians would have been released if they were seen as dangerous to U.S. interests in Iraq.

According to Iraqi officials, at least two of the detained Iranians were diplomats invited by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Their detentions occurred at a sensitive time for Iraq's Shiite government, as it tries to engage Tehran to play a role in improving security in Iraq.

The detentions set off a flurry of diplomatic activity by Iraqi officials to secure the Iranians' release. But the State Department spokesperson stressed that the Iraqi government did not pressure Washington to hand over the Iranian diplomats.

"Our actions were in no way dictated by pressure from the Iraqi government, or any party in the government," the State Department spokesperson said.

Elsewhere in Iraq, three American service members were killed, the U.S. military reported.

On Sunday, one Marine and one soldier assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died during fighting in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. On Monday, a roadside bomb killed a soldier and wounded two others while they were conducting a security patrol in a southern Baghdad neighborhood.

In Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, an insurgent killed a student and a policeman at the entrance of Anbar University when he detonated his explosives vest, the U.S. military said. Five policemen were wounded.

Staff writers Michael Fletcher and Glenn Kessler in Washington and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.