Tehran has confirmed that a senior Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped by gunmen on the streets of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi officials said the second secretary of the Iranian embassy was seized on Sunday by around 30 men wearing Iraqi army uniforms after a gunfight with his bodyguards.
Iran has blamed the United States for the abduction, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi military unit that works closely with US forces.
A US military spokesman said no US or Iraqi troops had been involved.
Republicans block censure of Iraq policy
Meanwhile in the US, Republicans in the Senate have blocked a vote on a resolution that sought to condemn US President George W Bush's plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq by over 20,000.
Although Republicans are now in the minority, they showed last night that they are not prepared to allow Mr Bush to suffer a potentially embarrassing vote of no-confidence in his new Iraq policy.
The resolution opposed Mr Bush's troop increase plan and instead proposed enhanced regional diplomacy.
The non-binding resolution was drafted by Republican Senator John Warner and Democrat Carl Levin.
Despite it being a bi-partisan resolution, it fell far short of the 60% of votes needed to stop debate to allow it come to a vote on the Senate floor, receiving only 49 votes to 47 against.
Although a setback for opponents of the war, it is expected that other resolutions opposing Mr Bush's plan to varying degrees will be debated in the Senate over the coming weeks.
