Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Hoshyar Zebari was first appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad on 3 September 2003.
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the detained Iranians had been working in Arbil with official sanction, and the liaison office was in the process of becoming a full consulate; however the office was yet to be classified as a consulate with diplomatic protection.