Aug. 29, 2007 (LPAC)--Tehran issued a strong protest August 29, after U.S. forces seized an Iranian delegation, which included two diplomats, at the Baghdad Sheraton hotel, and carried them away handcuffed and blindfolded.

Although the delegates were released in a few hours, the highly provocative act by the U.S. forces suggests that the gameplan of the hardline anti-Iran Cheney cabal is to provoke Tehran into an "incident" as a pretext for launching an all-out attack against Iran.

The seizure in Baghdad occurred just hours after after President Bush had ordered his military chiefs in Iraq to confront Iran's "murderous activities," while addressing U.S. war veterans in Reno, Nevada on the night of August 28.

In his American Legion speech, Bush accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of funding and arming insurgents in Iraq and said Iran's leaders could not avoid some responsibility for attacks on coalition troops and Iraqi civilians. "I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities," he added.

Iran lodged a formal complaint with the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests, saying the Iranians were members of an energy ministry delegation visiting Baghdad for talks on building a power plant.