| An Iranian diplomat and a journalist missing in Iraq are safe and sound, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi was quoted as saying by state television. Iranian diplomat Fereydun Jahani and a reporter of the state news agency IRNA named Mostafa Darban "are in a healthy state", the report quoted the Foreign Minister as saying, without explaining how he knew. Mr Jahani went missing on August 4 on the road leading from Baghdad to Karbala, in central Iraq, where Tehran was set to open a consulate. His kidnapping was claimed by the Islamic Army of Iraq, which was reported last week to have issued threats against him but is not known to have carried them out. Mr Darban was reportedly arrested by Iraqi police on August 9 together with two Iraqi colleagues, but there has been no official confirmation of his detention from Baghdad. |