5 Iranian officials released by US return home

Five Iranian officials who were held in Iraq for more than two years are back in Iran. They were being held by U.S. forces on suspicion of aiding local Shiite militants.

This photo released by the semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency,  shows Iranian diplomats Majid Ghaemi Heidari, foreground, Bagher  Ghobeishavi, right, Mahmoud Farhadi, second right, and Mohsen  Bagheri, background left, waving to relatives as they arrive at  Tehran's Mehrabad airport, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Javad Moghimi)

On Sunday, they received a hero's welcome at Tehran airport by a cheering crowd of onlookers. The diplomats were detained in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in January 2007.

Iran has denied they were involved in militant activity. Iran's Foreign Minster, Manouchehr Mottaki, praised their courageous resistance in a news conference with the men minutes after their return.