US forces have carried out a raid on the Iranian consulate in a northern Iraqi city, arresting five people, it was reported this morning.

Iraqi officials said that the pre-dawn operation took place at around 3am on Thursday in the Kurdish-controlled city of Arbil, 350km (220 miles) from Baghdad. Multinational forces stormed the building, detaining five employees and confiscating computers and documents, according to two senior local Kurdish officials.

The report, which first appeared on Iraq state television, was also confirmed by a Shia official in the capital. There was no immediate comment from the US military.

A Kurdish station said that Kurdish security forces had taken over the building after the Americans left the area.

The motive for the raid was not yet clear, but it comes amid high tensions between Iran and the US. The Bush administration has accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and of encouraging insurgency violence in Iraq.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, is trying to expand Iran’s role in Iraq as a counter to US influence in the Gulf region.

Last month, US forces in Baghdad arrested a number of Iranians they said were suspected of planning attacks on Iraqi security forces, including diplomats who were later turned over to Iraqi authorities.

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