Iraqi and US officials have denied speculations that the release of five Iranian diplomats, who were abducted and held in Iraq for 2.5 years without charge, was a political gesture.

Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister Major-General Hussein Kamal, who oversaw the detainees' transfer, said US officials had handed the men over to the Iraqi government based on the security agreement between the two sides.

“There is nothing specific about the timing of their release. The Iraqi judiciary looked into their cases and the court decided to release them,” said Kamal, according to a Friday Reuters report.

Three of released diplomats were abducted by US forces during a January 2007 raid on the Iranian consulate situated in Iraq's northern city of Arbil. Two other consulate employees were also arrested along with the three, but released at a later date. But the three remaining hostages were joined by two more who were seized elsewhere in Iraq.

There was speculation the release might represent a gesture on the part of US President Barack Obama, who has promised to work toward better ties with Tehran.

Kamal, however, said that Iraqi officials had been systematically looking into accusations against detainees held in vast US prison camps in Iraq, based on a US-Iraqi security pact that took effect in January.

Under the pact, the United States must gradually hand over more than 10,000 detainees, including the non-Iraqi nationals, to the Iraqi government, so that they can be either charged or released.

“On this basis, it was their turn to have their cases examined… The judge said the evidence (against them) was not sufficient, so accordingly they were released,” he said.

A US State Department spokesman has also denied the five were freed as part of Obama's proclaimed policy of trying to engage Iran. He also rejected that any prisoner swap deal had taken place.

Prior to the US and Iraqi officials, an Iranian Embassy official in Baghdad had pointed out that the diplomats were released as part of the procedures that were outlined in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Iraq.

MJ/ZAP/DT