After intense debating, the United States has decided to keep detaining five Iranian intelligence agents captured in Iraq, overruling a State Department recommendation to release them, the Washington Post said in a report on Saturday.

At a meeting of the president's foreign policy team on Tuesday, the White House decided that the five Iranians would remain in custody and go through a periodic six-month review used for the 250 other foreign detainees held in Iraq, the report quoted U.S. officials as saying.

The next review is not expected until July, the report said.

The five Iranian Revolutionary Guard intelligence agents, detained in a Jan. 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Irbil, are the center of increasing tensions between Washington and Teheran, the report said.

It added that the decision is certain to further irritate Teheran. Iran has insisted that the five Iranians are diplomats and has called for their immediate release.

The United States has accused Iran of meddling in Iraq. Iran has denied the charge.

Source: Xinhua