Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The United States has accused Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq by providing military and economic aid to armed groups fighting Iraqi, British and US troops. The “growing body” of evidence on which the accusations are based comes from the US command in Iraq. The Iranian government has denied any involvement.
During a background briefing in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, three coalition officials met reporters to point the finger at the al-Qods (Jerusalem) Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, part of Tehran's elite forces, of arming “extremists and insurgents to carry out terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare. The al-Qods Force provides advice, training, and weapons to proxy forces in Iraq.”
The US officers presented photos of parts of ground-to-air missiles, explosively formed projectiles or EFPs and mortar shells manufactured between 2004 and 2006, which have killed at least 170 US and allied soldiers since June 2004 and wounded 620 more.
According to the Americans, “the weapons had characteristics unique to being manufactured in Iran” and “Iran is the only country in the region that produces these weapons.”
For the Americans, the four Iranian agents arrested in Arbil are evidence of Iran’s presence. All four are members of the al-Qods Brigade and had no diplomatic coverage, and tried to flush documents down a toilet as they were being arrested.
The officials also said Iran has several surrogate groups operating in Iraq using the EFPs, among them rogue elements of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, to whom Iran was supplying weapons and guerrilla warfare training.
“We assess these activities are coming from the highest levels of the Iranian government,” said one of the officials, since the al-Qods Brigade reports to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Two US aircraft carrier groups have been stationed in the Gulf as a warning to Iran, although US President George W. Bush has said he has no intention of invading the Islamic Republic. But some war critics say the Bush administration's language on Iran echoes comments made leading up to the 2003 invasion.
Senior Democrats in the United States have expressed scepticism and urged the Bush administration to be cautious about accusing Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq.