Consulate: Two arrested Iranians are ordinary pilgrims

Iran's consulate in Karbala, Iraq, said on Sunday that the two Iranians arrested in Iraq are ordinary pilgrims with no affiliation to the Iraq-based Iranian dissident group Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) which Iran considers as terrorists.

The group is described by the US government as a terrorist group "formed in the 1960s by the college-educated children of Iranian merchants, the (group) sought to counter what it perceived as excessive Western influence in the Shah's regime. Following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam, has developed into the largest and most active armed Iranian dissident group. Its history is studded with anti-Western activity, and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad."

The Iranian consulate said that the two pilgrims have valid permits for their entry to Iraq. The Iraq-based Iranian diplomats have acknowledged identity of the two Iranians to the Iraqi officials and it is expected that they will be released later in the day, it said in a statement.