Region | Iraq
Iran 'behind deaths in Iraq'
The US military has detected a significant increase in the number of sophisticated roadside bombs appearing in Iraq and believes they were from Iran, a senior defence analyst says.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 February 12, 2007
- Image Credit: AP
- A boy stands near a car destroyed in a car bomb explosion in central Baghdad.
Baghdad: The US military has detected a significant increase in the number of sophisticated roadside bombs appearing in Iraq. It believes that orders to send components for them came from the "highest levels" of the Iranian government, a senior defence analyst said yesterday.
The analyst, briefing reporters on condition he not be identified, said that between June 2004 and last week, more than 170 Americans had been killed by the sophisticated bombs, referred to by the military as "explosively formed projectiles [EFP]."
Officials showed reporters fragments of what they said were Iranian-manufactured weapons, including one part of an EFP - which is strong enough to penetrate the armour of an Abrams tank - and parts of 81mm and 60mm mortar bombs.
A senior defence official and an explosives expert said American intelligence analysts believe the EFPs are manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq on orders from the top of the Iranian government. He did not elaborate.
US officials have alleged for years that weapons were entering the country from Iran but have stopped short of alleging involvement by top Iranian leaders.
The defence analyst said Iran was working through "multiple surrogates" - mainly "rogue elements" of the Mehdi Army - to smuggle the EFPs into Iraq.
He said most of the components are entering the country at crossing points near Amarah, the Iranian border city of Meran and the Basra area of southern Iraq.
The analyst said Iraq's government had been briefed on Iran's involvement and Iraqi officials had asked the Iranians to stop. Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has said he told both the US and Iran that he does not want his country turned into a proxy battlefield.
In Munich, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned Nato yesterday that failure in Iraq is likely to be followed by chaos and would hurt all the allies, regardless of whether they had opposed or supported the 2003 invasion.
Grave consequences
"If the United States and our partners in Iraq fail and there is chaos in Iraq, every member of this alliance will feel the consequences," Gates said at a conference.
"Chaos in Iraq ... will result in further conflict in the Middle East and will result in more terrorism reaching out to touch all of us," he said of US-led attempts to put down an insurgency and end sectarian strife in Iraq.
"There may be great disagreement in the room on how we got to where we are, but the reality is, as of today, failure in Iraq will impact every country represented in this room."
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