Iran meddling in Iraq Options

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran still meddling in Iraq, U.S. says
Tehran disputes the allegation, made during talks, of an increase in militia activity that can be linked to its support.
By Alexandra Zavis, Times Staff Writer
July 25, 2007

BAGHDAD — U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker chided his Iranian counterpart at a rare and heated meeting Tuesday, saying Tehran has increasingly meddled in Iraq since the pair's first encounter this year.

But he said the United States, Iran and Iraq agreed to set up a security committee to devise ways to help curb the ongoing violence in Iraq.

Iraqi officials heralded the move as the first concrete step to emerge from the talks, which began May 28, ending a nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze between the U.S. and Iran. But Crocker said the results that count will be the ones on the ground.

"The fact is, as we made very clear in today's talks, that over the roughly two months we have actually seen militia-related activities that can be attributed to Iranian support go up and not down," Crocker said at a news briefing after the meeting.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry countered that "false accusations and propaganda" would not help the negotiations.

"It is crystal clear that the main objective behind repetition of such baseless accusations against Iran is to pursue the U.S. propaganda fuss and psychological warfare against the country," Mohammed Ali Hosseini told reporters in Iran.

The meeting came on a day when a suicide bomber in a tow truck killed at least 25 people and injured scores more in Hillah, a city about 60 miles south of Baghdad. They were among at least 55 people killed or found slain in bomb blasts, mortar fire and shootings across Iraq.

The session took place amid continuing tension between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program and detainees held by both countries. Such issues, however, were not discussed: Only the question of Iraq's security was on the table.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari termed the daylong talks, which he chaired at Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's office in the fortified Green Zone, as "very challenging."

Crocker repeated U.S. accusations that Iran is providing weapons, training and other support to Shiite and Sunni Muslim militants fighting in Iraq, including sophisticated bombs able to penetrate heavily armored vehicles. U.S. officials also say many of the rockets aimed at the Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices, come from Iran.

"I was as clear as I could be with the Iranians that this effort, this discussion, has to be measured in results, not in principles or promises, and that thus far the results on the ground are not encouraging," Crocker said.

Iran denies the charges and says it is the United States' presence in Iraq since it led an invasion here in 2003 that is fueling the violence. But Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi-Qomi told Crocker that his government would be willing to discuss U.S. concerns within the forum of a committee of security experts, a proposal he put forward at their first meeting in May.

Crocker, who was reticent about the idea then, said Tuesday that he hoped to see such a mechanism set up as soon as possible. Zebari said the three sides would meet again within days to work out details about the nature and composition of the committee, which he said would focus on ways to rein in violent militias, fight the group Al Qaeda in Iraq and secure the nation's border with Iran.

Kazemi-Qomi told reporters that he demanded the release of five Iranians detained by the United States in Iraq, a move supported by Zebari, who said it would help ease relations. U.S. officials say the men are agents with Iran's elite Quds Force, but Tehran says they are diplomats. Tehran is holding four Iranian Americans, accusing them of trying to undermine the Iranian regime, charges denied by Washington.

Iraqi officials have underscored that they do not want their country to become the battleground for a proxy war between the United States and Iran. Maliki told both sides in opening remarks that he hoped the meeting Tuesday would help create "a new regional climate based on cooperation in fighting the terrorism that threatens us all," according to a statement from his office.

The meeting comes at a time when U.S. and Iraqi officials are under intense pressure to show they are making progress resolving the ethnic, religious and political divisions that fuel the bloodshed here. Lawmakers are headed into a parliamentary recess at the end of the month with no sign that they will reach agreement on legislation that seeks to address these divides.

Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would open the door to private investment in the state-run oil sector by allowing the establishment of private refineries, provided at least 70% of the workforce was Iraqi. But legislators have yet to consider a separate law governing the distribution of Iraq's massive oil wealth.

The suicide bomber in Hillah pulled up between two minibuses packed with passengers in a busy commercial district, police at the scene said. The blast collapsed a ceiling inside a nearby maternity hospital, ripped through shops and torched more than a dozen vehicles. Bodies could be seen inside three charred minibuses.

An ice cream vendor, who gave his name only as Jwad, was eating breakfast at a restaurant when the bomb exploded across the street.

"For a while, I was in a shock and did not know where to look to focus on events," he said. "I smelled a very bad smell of burning flesh and gunpowder. People were running past me away from the explosion site."

Jwad rushed to help evacuate the wounded, including a woman stripped in the blast. Survivors covered her with their own clothing, he said.

The mostly Shiite city has been the target of repeated attacks blamed on Sunni Arab militants. Residents vented their anger on U.S. forces and Maliki's government, accusing them of negligence.

At least 18 people were found shot execution-style in Baghdad, police said, apparent victims of sectarian killing.

In other developments, Abdelaziz Hakim, the leader of one of the two largest Shiite blocs in parliament, returned to Iraq on Tuesday after seeking treatment for lung cancer in Iran.

Jinan Jasim Ubaidi, a lawmaker from Hakim's renamed Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, said the cleric appeared in good health and planned to resume his political responsibilities.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/a...-news-a_section

[ABLAT Staff]

U.S.: Attackers in Iraq have improved aim

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military has noted a "significant improvement" in the aim of attackers firing rockets and mortars into the heavily fortified Green Zone in the past three months that it has linked to training in Iran, a top commander said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the top day-to-day U.S. commander in Iraq, also expressed cautious optimism over a decline in the number of American troops killed this month. At least 60 U.S. troops have died so far in July after the death toll topped 100 for the previous three months, according to an Associated Press tally based on military statements.

Odierno said it appeared that casualties had increased as fresh U.S. forces expanded operations into militant strongholds as part of the five-month-old security operation aimed at clamping off violence in the capital, but were going down as the Americans gained control of the areas.

"We've started to see a slow but gradual reduction in casualties and it continues in July," he said at a joint news conference with Iraqi military commander Maj. Gen. Abboud Qanbar. "It's an initial positive sign, but I would argue we need a bit more time to make an assessment whether it's a true trend."

Iraqis in Baghdad swept up debris from bloodstained pavement, a day after two suicide bombings killed at least 50 cheering, dancing, flag-waving Iraqis celebrating the national soccer team's semifinal victory in the Asian Cup tournament.

The attacks bore the hallmarks of Sunni militants who have fueled the violence tearing at the fragile fabric of Iraq for nearly four years. But these bombings, in parked cars less than an hour apart in separate corners of Baghdad, appeared designed to gain attention rather than target a particular sect.

An ice cream parlor was the backdrop for the first attack on Wednesday, charring the interior of the corner store in the predominantly Sunni Mansour neighborhood in west Baghdad. At least 30 people were killed and 75 wounded, according to the Interior Ministry.

The second suicide car bombing took place in the midst of dozens of vehicles filled with revelers near an Iraqi army checkpoint in the eastern district of Ghadeer, where an uneasy mix of Sunnis, Shiites and Christians live. At least 20 people died and nearly 60 were wounded, the ministry said.

The Iraqi commander blamed the bombings on terrorists and Sunni extremists upset with the unity on display as people of all religious backgrounds celebrated the win.

"But our people have proved to the world that they are unified no matter what terrorism does, and it was proven that terrorism has no religion and is the enemy to all people and the enemy of humankind," Qanbar said.

Violence also struck Iraqi security forces on Thursday, with a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol on the road between Hillah and Diwaniyah, killing five officers and wounding two as they were on their way home from an operation with U.S. forces, police said. Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, has been the site of heavy clashes between U.S.-Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia fighters.

Odierno said networks continue to smuggle powerful roadside bombs and mortars across the border from Iran despite Tehran's assertions that it supports stability in Iraq.

His remarks came two days after the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq met in Baghdad and agreed to establish a security committee to jointly address the violence amid Washington's allegations that Tehran is fueling the violence by support Shiite militias. Odierno said the military also believes training of extremists is being conducted in Iran.

"One of the reasons why we're sitting down with the Iranian government ... is trying to solve some of these problems," Odierno said at a news conference in the Green Zone, which is home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters.

"We have seen in the last three months a significant improvement in the capability of mortarmen and rocketeers to provide accurate fires into the Green Zone and other places and we think this is directly related to training that is conducted in Iran," Odierno said. "So we continue to go after these networks with the Iraqi security forces."

Iran has denied the U.S. allegations about its activities in Iraq.

Attacks against the sprawling complex along the Tigris River in the center of Baghdad have increased in recent months, adding to the concern over the safety of key Iraqi and international officials and thousands of U.S. soldiers and contractors who live and work there.

On July 10, a barrage of more than a dozen mortars or rockets struck the area, killing at least three people, including an American, and wounding 18. In a report last month, the United Nations office in Baghdad said the "threat of indirect fire" — meaning rockets and mortars — into the Green Zone had increased, adding that the barrages had become "increasingly concentrated and accurate."

In political developments, Iraq's Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi's office said the moderate Sunni leader had met with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Wednesday to discuss his political bloc's objections to the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"The vice president confirmed that the absence of collective leadership and actual participation in running the country is one of the obstacles facing the political process in the country and that stands against reaching agreements ... on key laws," al-Hashemi's office said in a statement.

The meeting occurred on the same day al-Hashemi's Iraqi Accordance Front, which includes two hardline partners, suspended membership in the government, a bid that appeared timed to deepen disenchantment in Washington with the Shiite prime minister's faltering leadership.

The Iraqi Accordance Front, which has six Cabinet seats and 44 of 275 in parliament, gave al-Maliki a week to meet its demands or see ministers quit the 14-month-old government. Al-Maliki faces intense scrutiny in Washington, where Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Crocker are required to report to Congress by Sept. 15 on progress in Iraq.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/20...qthursday_N.htm

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran-arms importers captured in Iraq
July 28, 2007

By Sara A. Carter - Four terrorists linked to an Iranian smuggling operation — responsible for targeting coalition forces with powerful bombs — were captured yesterday in Iraq, according to Defense Department officials.

The announcement came as U.S. officials continue to investigate links between Iran and insurgents seeking to destabilize the region and who target U.S. forces on the ground.

"I would say that it's clear to us that there are networks that are smuggling weapons, both explosive-formed projectiles, IEDs, as well as mortar and other capabilities from Iran into Iraq," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day commander in Iraq.

"And in fact, we believe some training is also going on inside of Iran. We have seen in the last three months a significant improvement in the capability of mortarmen and rocketeers to provide accurate fires into the [coalition] Green Zone and other places. We think this is directly related to training that was conducted in Iran."

Terrorists are suspected of facilitating the transport of weapons and personnel from Iran into Iraq, specifically the deadly Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs). The warhead-style weapons can pierce armor and cause significant damage and casualties to coalition forces.

The suspects were captured after U.S. forces conducted a raid in Qasarin, a small village north of Baqouba, in the Diyala province near the border with Iran.

Opponents of the Iraq war criticize the administration for pointing the finger at Iran, suggesting there is not sufficient evidence of their involvement in Iraq.

Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat and chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, said he will introduce a measure next week that would begin pulling out troops within 60 days after its introduction.

But Peter Brookes, senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a national security authority, warns that a withdrawal of troops from Iraq would put the region at risk as Iran continues to pursue its objective to obtain nuclear power.

"Iran could potentially hold the United States at risk with its nuclear and space programs," Mr. Brookes said. "Their foreign policy is to destroy the U.S. and Israel and that's what they are aiming to do."

Earlier this week, American and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq met in Baghdad and agreed to set up a security subcommittee to carry forward talks on restoring stability in the war-torn nation.

During the groundbreaking talks, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of spurring the violence in Iraq by arming and training Shi'ite militias. He warned that no progress can be made unless Iranian behavior changes.

Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi countered that Tehran is trying to help Iraq deal with the security situation, but Iraqis are "victimized by terror and the presence of foreign forces" in their country.

Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq, where the majority of the population is also Shi'ite Muslim and where many Shi'ite political parties are seen as having ties to Tehran.

The United States broke off diplomatic ties with the Islamic republic after the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and holding of American hostages for 444 days.

Mr. Brookes cites Iran's current involvement and support for Taliban groups in Afghanistan as an example of Iran's flip-flop foreign policy when it comes to defeating the U.S.

"In the past the Iranians would have never given financial support to the Taliban," he said. "The evidence now suggests that Iran is offering them assistance in an effort to push U.S. forces out of the region."

Iran and Syria are doing the same in Iraq, he added.

In February, senior defense officials at a press briefing in Baghdad outlined what they thought to be Iran and Syria's involvement in region.

Officials said the deadly arsenal of weapons used against coalition forces by Iraqi Shi'ite groups was provided by an elite Iranian military force — known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"Iran is a significant contributor to attacks on coalition forces, and also supports violence against the Iraqi Security Force and innocent Iraqis," military officials stated in a presentation to reporters.

Further evidence presented at the briefing noted Iran's participation in providing training and other forms of weaponry to extremist groups.

•This story is based in part on wire service reports.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart

[ABLAT Staff]

Official: Iran, U.S. to discuss Iraq security

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran and the United States will meet in Baghdad on Monday to discuss ways to ease Iraq's security problems, Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad said.

The meeting — to discuss a committee Iran and the U.S. agreed to set up last month to deal with security issues — would be the third between the two countries in recent months over Iraq. The first round in May broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

"The two sides will exchange views on Monday concerning the details of a trilateral security committee," state-run television quoted Ambassador Hasan Kazemi Qomi as saying Saturday.

Qomi said Iraq would participate as well, and the group would focus on "the composition and agenda of the security committee."

He did not specify the officials who would attend the meeting, but indicated the discussions would be held at the "expert" level. The prior two rounds of talks included Qomi and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to visit senior leaders in Iran on Wednesday.

The U.S. has accused Iran of fueling violence in Iraq and supporting militants there — Tehran has denied the allegations.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/20...iran-meet_N.htm

[ABLAT Staff]

Captured Video Shows Iraqi Insurgents Firing Sophisticated Iranian-Made Rockets at U.S. Positions
Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Dramatic video produced by Iraqi insurgents and captured in a raid earlier this week by U.S. troops clearly shows a battery of sophisticated Iranian-made rocket launchers firing on American positions east of Baghdad, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The video, captured during a raid on Monday by the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment in northeast Nahrawan, shows insurgents setting up and carrying out an attack on Sunday, as well as an attack on July 11 that killed one soldier and wounded 15 others, officials said. The raid last month appeared to involve 34 launchers firing 107 mm Iranian-made rockets.

The video provides clear visual evidence of the extent to which Iraqi insurgents are equipped to launch deadly rockets on coalition forces, the Pentagon said.

The release of the video comes as officials charge Iran with supplying high-tech bombs used in 99 roadside bomb attacks in Iraq last month.

The powerful weapons, known as explosively formed penetrators or EFPs, accounted for a third of combat deaths suffered by coalition forces, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

The bombs fire white hot slugs that can cut through the heavy armor on Humvees. Intelligence officials said EFPs are being used almost exclusively by Shiite militias. The U.S. has repeatedly claimed that it has evidence Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard is smuggling the weapons into the country — a claim Tehran has repeatedly denied.

• Read the original report on NYTimes.com.

Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, told the Times he believes Shiite extremists have stepped up attacks in anticipation of Gen. Petreus' upcoming progress report to Congress on the war.

“I think they want to influence the decision potentially coming up in September,” he said.

Of the 69 coalition soldiers who were lost in action last month, 23 died as a result of attacks with EFPs, Odierno said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292513,00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iraqi leader wins Iran pledge to help Iraq's security

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won strong shows of friendship and support from his ally Iran, but there was no sign of concessions from Tehran on U.S. demands that it stop allegedly arming Shiite militants blamed for fueling Iraq's violence.

President Bush on Thursday said he hoped Maliki's message to Tehran would be the same as the United States' — that Iran should halt the export of sophisticated explosive devices into Iraq used in attacks on U.S. troops or "there will be consequences."

Bush called Tehran "a destabilizing influence in the Middle East."

Though backed by the U.S. and reliant on American military forces, Maliki's Shiite and Kurdish-led government is closely tied to mainly Shiite Iran, the top rival of the United States in the region. The Iraqi government has been reluctant to openly embrace the U.S. claims against Tehran, which Iran has denied.

Maliki has received a warm welcome in Iran, walking hand-in-hand with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into an ornate reception late Wednesday, then flying on Thursday to the holy city of Mashhad, where he had talks with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The prime minister said his three-day visit aimed at enlisting Iranian help in calming Iraq's turmoil — though he has not said whether he was pressing Iran on the U.S. accusations.

Iranian leaders vowed their support for Iraq's security, but in their talks with Maliki they stuck by their stance that real peace would only come when U.S. forces pull out.

"Establishment of peace and tranquility in Iraq depends on withdrawal of occupiers and their avoidance of interfering in Iraq," Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoodi said after meeting Maliki.

"Iran is sparing no efforts to achieve political and security stability in Iraq," Davoodi said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that when Iraqi forces run security instead of the Americans, "one can be hopeful that effective steps will be taken and that one can be hopeful of talks in the future."

Maliki said the issue of an American pullout was between Baghdad and Washington. This issue "belongs to the Iraqis only and it is related to the readiness of the Iraqi armed forces and their ability to take over security responsibilities," he told The Associated Press.

Maliki has long played a delicate balancing act in the bitter rivalry between his two allies, putting off Iranian calls for an American pullout while balking at U.S. pressure to take a tougher stance on Tehran.

The Iranian vows of support boost Maliki amid political turmoil surrounding his government — particularly rumors of maneuvers among his fellow Shiite politicians to remove him. But the close ties with Tehran could only further disillusion Sunni Arabs, who in the past weeks have pulled out or boycotted his government, damaging attempts at reconciliation among Iraq's sects.

After meeting Ahmadinejad, Maliki said Iran has a "positive and constructive" role in helping improve security in Iraq and that violence will not undermine the ties between Tehran and Baghdad, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Iran has repeated denied the U.S. accusations that it is arming and organizing Shiite militants blamed for killings of Americans and Iraqi Sunnis.

"There is no evidence on this subject," said Mohammad Firouznia, head of an Iranian delegation attending a regional conference Thursday in Damascus on Iraq's security. "We have held talks with the Americans in Baghdad aimed at helping the Iraqi government and people ... We are serious about this issue."

Iranian and U.S. officials met on Monday in Baghdad in talks on security in Iraq, the latest in a series of meetings between the two enemies. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, traveling with Maliki, said Ahmadinejad showed a "real desire" to continue the talks with the U.S.

Iraqi and Iranian officials also sought to increase economic ties between their countries, which already have been growing.

Under some of the deals being worked on, Iran would build a power station in Sadr city and supply Iraq directly with electricity. Iran would also provide 400,000 tons of kerosene and liquid gas during this year.

Last year, Iraq imported gas and kerosene from Iran, as well as other countries, to fill shortages caused by the country's chaos. Iran, however, is suffering similar problems because of low refinery capacity, forcing it to impose gas rationing at home.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08...iran-iraq_N.htm

[ABLAT Staff]

Bush breaks up Iran-Iraq love-in

US President George W. Bush yesterday told Tehran there would "be a price to pay" for meddling in Iraq and warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against cosying up to the leaders of Iran.

Amid what Washington sees as unsettling signs of warming Baghdad-Tehran relations, Mr Bush said he was not surprised at pictures yesterday that showed cordial meetings between Mr Maliki and top Iranian leaders in Tehran, but he said he hoped the Shia leader was delivering a tough message.

"You don't want the picture to be kind of, you know, ducking it out" when on a diplomatic mission, he said, putting up his fists like a boxer.

In Tehran, Iran's leaders told Mr Maliki that US troops must leave Iraq.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Mr Maliki that the presence of US troops was the biggest obstacle to restoring security.

Mr Maliki also met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and national security chief Ali Larijani. Mr Maliki was quoted by Iranian state media as praising Iran's "constructive" role in "fighting terrorism" in Iraq -- a statement Mr Bush moved swiftly to contradict.

"If the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the Prime Minister because I do not believe they are," Mr Bush said.

"I don't think he, in his heart of hearts, thinks they're constructive either."

But Ayatollah Khamenei said that it was the presence of the US-led forces that was the "biggest misfortune" shadowing Iraq.

"The occupiers claim that if they exit now, Iraq will be destroyed. Whereas if the occupiers leave, all the Iraqi officials will move with full force to solve the people's problems," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

Mr Ahmadinejad told Mr Maliki: "Iran and Iraq both have heavy responsibilities to bring about peace and security in the region."

But Mr Bush insisted Iran was a destabilising force in Iraq, despite Tehran's assertion to Mr Maliki that it was helping secure his country. Calling Iran a "very troubling nation" that should be isolated, Mr Bush said: "When we catch you playing a non-constructive role (in Iraq), there will be a price to pay."

He said US officials had warned Iran in talks in Baghdad to stop shipping sophisticated roadside bombs into Iraq or face the "consequences".

Iran vehemently denies any such behaviour.

Mr Bush's comments came just days after he disagreed sharply with Afghan President Hamid Karzai about Iran's influence after Mr Karzai called Tehran a positive force in combating extremists in his country.

And they came as top US officials worried about the pace of political reconciliation in Iraq, amid misgivings in Washington about whether Mr Maliki wanted or was able to build bridges with minority Sunnis.

Mr Maliki's talks appeared to confirm the increasingly warm relations that have emerged between majority Shia Iraq and overwhelmingly Shia Iran following the fall of the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iran and Saddam's Iraq waged a war between 1980 and 1988 in which about one million people died.

Like many Iraqi Shia leaders, Mr Maliki lived in Iran during the war to escape persecution of his Dawa party by Saddam's regime.

In a highly symbolic move, Mr Maliki yesterday also met the families of Iranian officials arrested in Iraq by US forces on accusations of being members of an elite Revolutionary Guards force on a mission to stir trouble.

Iran insists the men were diplomats and is livid that the US has shown no sign of releasing them.

"The Iraqi Government will do all it can to release these people," Mr Maliki said, expressing optimism that the officials would be freed and condemning their arrest, state broadcasting said.

AFP

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...5-15084,00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran denies arming the Taleban

Tim Albone in Kabul

Iran’s President has rejected accusations that elements of his Government have supplied weapons to Taleban insurgents to destabilise international efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on his first visit to Afghanistan since he took office, refuted the British and American claims. “I doubt seriously if there is any truth in it,” he told a press conference held with President Karzai of Afghanistan in Kabul. “With all our force, we support the political process in Afghanistan. For us, a secure and stable Afghanistan is the best.”

The claims have opened up a split between President Bush and Mr Karzai. During a meeting at Camp David last week Mr Karzai called Iran “a helper and a solution” to problems in Afghanistan, claiming that it was a vital ally in the fight against terrorism and drugs. Mr Bush said that he “would be very cautious about whether or not the Iranian influence there in Afghanistan is a positive force.”

Despite Mr Karzai’s claims that Mr Ahmadinejad’s Government is supporting reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, intelligence sources in the country indicate that it is also helping to undermine Nato and American efforts.

Colonel Rahmatullah Safi, head of border police for western Afghanistan, which borders Iran, said this month: “I have to tell the truth. It is clear to everyone that Iran is supporting the enemy of Afghanistan, the Taleban.”

Afghan and international intelligence sources believe that most weaponry is filtered through a drug smuggler in the south-western province of Nimroz. The middle man is from the minority Baluch tribe and is thought to have bought weapons off the Iranian Government and sold them on to the Taleban.

The most deadly weapons that have been smuggled into Afghanistan across the porous border with Iran are Iranian-made armour-piercing explosives. The bombs have been used to deadly effect in Iraq and have recently been discovered in western Afghanistan.

Colonel Thomas Kelly, an American under the command of Nato, stopped short of blaming the Iranian Government, but said: “These are very sophisticated IEDs and they are really not manufactured in any other place to our knowledge than Iran.”

The US Government has accused Iran’s Quds force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guard, of arming and training Shia extremist groups in Iraq. The fear now is that Iran, a Shia country, has overcome its theological difference with the Sunni Taleban to fight a larger enemy.

“The Taleban are Sunni extremists and the Iranians definitely don’t want them to take control of Afghanistan again, but right now they support them as there is a bigger enemy, America. The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” said Haji Rafiq Shahir, a law professor at Herat University.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle2257548.ece

[ABLAT Staff]

Iranians killed by U.S. troops in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Three gunmen killed by U.S. troops in Iraq this week were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, a U.S. military statement said in Baghdad.

The U.S. Army statement said that in several anti-insurgency attacks this week, a total of nine gunmen were killed. However, in one raid in northeastern Baghdad targeting a leader of the Iranian Guards' foreign fighters known as Al-Quds, three of his aides were killed by U.S. forces, Kuwait's KUNA news agency reported.

The unidentified leader was arrested on suspicion of supplying arms to Iraqi insurgents, the statement said.

Iran has repeatedly denied coalition allegations it provided training and weapons to Iraqi rebels. Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Defense said it was planning to designate the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist operation, which would disrupt the group's considerable foreign business transactions.

In another security operation, the military statement said six terrorists were killed in northern Baghdad. The raid also netted machine gun rounds and components used to make explosive devices, the report said.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007...s_in_iraq/9327/

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran leaflets threaten Kurds in northern Iraq with 'cleansing'
BAGHDAD — Iran has demanded that Iraqi Kurds leave their border villages.

Kurdish sources said Iran's military has dropped leaflets into Iraqi Kurdish villages that call for their immediate evacuation. The leaflets warned the Kurds of impending Iranian military strikes.

"The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran will work on cleansing this area," the leaflet said.

On Aug. 20, Kurdish sources said an Iranian military helicopter was shot down by Kurdish insurgents near the Iranian-Iraqi-Turkish border. The helicopter was said to contain at least six Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers assigned to direct attacks against the Kurds.

The leaflets were distributed in the northern province of Irbil on Aug. 19 as Iranian troops began deployment along the Iraqi border. Kurdish sources said Iran appeared ready to launch an offensive against Kurdish insurgents from the so-called Party of Freedom of Life, which demands autonomy for Kurds in Iran.

The sources said Iranian forces were deployed near the Iraqi town of Haj Omran. The military operation was said to have been coordinated with Turkey.

"Our enemies, mainly the Americans, are trying to plant security hurdles in our country," the Iranian leaflet said. "They achieved this through using agents in the [Iraqi] areas of Kandil and Khaneera inside the Kurdish region."

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/W..._iraq_08_22.asp

[ABLAT Staff]

President Ahmadinejad Says Iran Ready to Fill Power Vacuum in Iraq
Tuesday , August 28, 2007
AP

TEHRAN, Iran —
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that a power vacuum is imminent in Iraq and said that Iran was ready to help fill the gap.

"The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference in Tehran, referring to U.S. troops in Iraq. "Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course, we are prepared to fill the gap, with the help of neighbors and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation."

Although Ahmadinejad did not elaborate how Iran could fill a power gap, his bold remarks reflected what may be perceived as Iran's eagerness for an increasing role on its neighbor's political scene.

Earlier this month, during a visit here by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iranian leaders said that only a U.S. pullout would bring peace to Iraq and pledged their government would do its best to help stabilize the country.

Soon after al-Maliki's trip, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Ahmadinejad had accepted an invitation to Baghdad by the Iraqi prime minister for a state visit. But the ministry added that a final decision on the trip had not been made.

Ahmadinejad accused the United States of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs, and dismissed U.S. criticism of al-Maliki's unsuccessful efforts to reconcile the country's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

"They rudely say (the Iraqi) prime minister and the constitution must change," Ahmadinejad said. "Who are you? Who has given you the right" to ask for such a change, he added, addressing the U.S. critics of al-Maliki, who is also a Shiite.

Ahmadinejad dismissed the possibility of any U.S. military action against Iran.

"I tell you resolutely that there is no possibility, whatsoever, of such a decision in the U.S.," Ahmadinejad told reporters. "Even, if they were to decide to do so, they would be unable to carry it out."

U.S. has accused Iran of being behind attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq — a claim the Iraqi government has only partially backed, saying Iran could have a role in the attacks. Iran has denied the accusations.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_st...,294907,00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran reportedly bombs villages in northern Iraq
Strikes allegedly against suspected positions of breakaway Kurdish group

MARDOW, Iraq - As explosions boomed in the distance, a Kurdish woman stood outside her house and pointed to where shells scorched parts of her father’s grapes and plum orchards.

“It was a bad day when some 20 shells hit our village in a single day last week. We were crying as we prayed to God to protect us from the bombs of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Serwa Ibrahim, one of the few remaining villagers in Mardow, about 25 miles from the Iranian border.

“Despite the shelling, I will stay in my village until the end,” Ibrahim, 33, said Thursday.

Separatist Kurds
Iranian troops have been accused of bombing border areas for weeks against suspected positions of the Free Life Party, or PEJAK, a breakaway faction of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Iran says PEJAK — which seeks autonomy for Kurds in Iran — launches attacks inside Iran from bases in Iraq.

The Iranian shelling has been criticized by Iraqi officials and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned it could have negative effects on the crucial relations between Iran and Iraq’s Shiite-led government.

Ari Yashir, a PEJAK member, took a reporter in a tour around several deserted villages and claimed the Iranian attacks only serve to harm civilians.

“The bombing is only targeting villages where we have no bases,” he said. “After three weeks of Iranian shelling none of our positions was hit and not a single member of our party was wounded.”

Most of the people who fled their homes have gathered in an area known as Shewe Hasow, a valley with water springs in the Qandil Mountain area that borders Iran and Turkey. Many of them stay in tents or under covers mostly supplied by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“We are here because the refugees are in need,” said ICRC member Patrick Youssef, standing by a truck with canned food and bottled water. “We are helping them with needed stuff because most of them left their homes leaving their things behind.”

450 families displaced
The Kurdish region’s interior minister, Othman Haji Mahmoud, told the Kurdish regional parliament Tuesday that the Iranian shelling led to the displacement of some 450 families in 20 villages, adding that several people were wounded in addition to material damages.

He said the latest wave of shelling began Aug. 14.

In Baghdad, Zebari said Tuesday that the main areas struck are in the northern provinces of Irbil and Sulaimaniyah. Iranian shelling “has been ongoing and unfortunately has become a daily or a routine practice. Recently, we summoned the Iranian ambassador and handed him a note of protest.”

“PEJAK sometimes moves in border area, but this does not permit all this continuous, daily and intensive shelling,” said Zebari, a Kurd, who noted that Iraq was prepared to hold negotiations with Iran on the disputes over Kurdish rebel groups.

“We hope that these attacks will stop immediately.”

To some Kurds in the region, they have been living the war for decades, including widespread atrocities blamed on Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1980s.

“We are the victims of a continuous struggle. My house was destroyed five times and I rebuilt it. Let this be the sixth time,” said Abdullah Wasou Ibrahim, who fled to the refugee camp with 10 family members.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20542458/

[ABLAT Staff]

Arming against Iran
September 2, 2007

William R. Hawkins - The best argument for the necessity of American victory in Iraq was made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Aug. 28 when he declared his regime was "prepared to fill the gap" if U.S. forces withdrew. To give meaning to Tehran's claim, the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army of Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr appeared poised to take control of the key Iraqi city of Basra in the wake of a British pullback. And attacks by the Mahdists on rival Shi'ite groups in Karbala took more than 50 lives during a major religious festival. Sheik al-Sadr plans to strengthen his militia over the next six months to prepare for the end of the U.S. surge.

President Bush responded to the Iranian threat in his speech to the American Legion, but he is already doing more than just threatening to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. At the end of July, the State Department unveiled a series of arms sales in the region to help contain Tehran. In her July 30 announcement of the potential sale of $20 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and the other five members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the arms will "support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran." The military aid to the Saudis and Gulf states will run in parallel with an increase in military aid to Israel ($30 billion) and Egypt ($13) over the next decade.

The memorandum with Israel was signed Aug. 16 in Jerusalem. According to Miss Rice, the arms sales to Cairo will "strengthen Egypt's ability to address shared strategic goals." The best way to build new diplomatic and security alliances is to pull diverse states together against a common enemy.

Last summer, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan openly criticized Iran's Hezbollah proxy for raiding into Israel. The Sunni Arab states gave Israel the diplomatic room it needed to conduct four weeks of military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran, with its support for militias in foreign lands, its nuclear ambitions, and its aggressive Shia faith, poses a much greater threat to the Sunni world than does Israel, which has no intention of toppling Arab regimes and converting their people to its religious doctrines. Iran does have these ambitions, directed at both Jews and Sunni Muslims.

The new steps to solve the Palestinian problem have been hastened by a sense of common danger to both Israel and the Fatah regime in the West Bank posed by Hamas in Gaza, a terrorist group backed by Syria and Iran. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel will not lobby against the new arms sales to Saudi Arabia, as it has against previous sales.

On August 9, the Tehran Times, the self-proclaimed "loud voice of the Islamic Revolution," highlighted a speech given in Lebanon by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that attacked the U.S. arms sales as an attempt "to drown the Mideast in war." Earlier, Sheik Nasrallah had announced his terrorist group had been fully rearmed and was ready for a new round of combat. It's rather clear where the flood of violence is coming from, and that American aid is needed to dam it up.

Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf states do not have the manpower to match Iran, so they need superior weapons interoperable with those of the United States. Cooperation on missile defense, maritime patrol, counterterrorism and energy security is moving ahead with U.S.-led joint exercises. American trainers, advisers and support personnel will have to accompany the new weapon systems.

The "cut and run" caucus in Congress has already voiced it opposition to the arms sales: 114 members of the U.S. House (96 Democrats, 18 Republicans) rushed a letter to President Bush Aug. 2, declaring their intention to vote against any sale of advanced weapons to the Saudis. The letter was organized by New York Democratic Reps. Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler, two very vocal antiwar activists. Those who signed their letter don't just want to "redeploy" from Iraq, they want to withdraw completely from the region. Such a retreat would leave a security nightmare in its wake.

The thrust of their stated argument is that "Saudi Arabia has not been a true ally in the war on terror or furthering the United States interests in the Middle East." Yet, the purpose of the arms deal is to draw the kingdom into a closer alignment against a common regional enemy.

For Congress to block the arms sales would undermine what trust there is between Washington and the Sunni world (including the tribal leaders in Iraq who are vital to the defeat of al Qaeda). It would also fuel the propaganda of both al Qaeda and Tehran that alleges America is at war with all of Islam, when, in fact, U.S. security interests are in line with those of a majority of Muslims.

William R. Hawkins is senior fellow for national security studies at the U.S. Business and Industry Council.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart

[ABLAT Staff]

Iranian Raises Possibility of an Intrusion Into Iraq

BAGHDAD, Sept. 9 — In a sharp escalation of a dispute over border fighting, an official Iranian delegation at a diplomatic conference here warned Sunday that if the Iraqi government could not stop militants from crossing into Iran and carrying out attacks, the Iranian authorities would respond militarily.

The Iranian delegation, led by a deputy foreign minister, Mohammad R. Baqiri, also charged that the United States was supporting groups believed to be mounting attacks from Iraqi territory in the Kurdish north.

Mr. Baqiri did not specifically say that Iran would enter Iraq militarily, but his statements, couched in diplomatic terms, raised the clear possibility that Iranian forces could cross the border in pursuit of the militants. But however carefully phrased his statements, many of those distinctions are likely to be lost on hundreds of families on the Iraqi side who have been driven from their villages by weeks of intermittent shelling from Iran.

Hundreds of Kurds demonstrated Sunday against the shelling in the northern provincial capital of Erbil. They gathered outside the Kurdish Parliament building and asked that the northern government and the United Nations intervene.

Senior Iranian officials have privately acknowledged to their Iraqi counterparts that the shelling is taking place in response to guerrilla attacks by a group opposed to the Iranian government that has bases on the Iraqi side of the border. At the conference on Sunday, at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Mr. Baqiri did not directly address the shelling, but he told officials from 16 nations, the Arab League, the Islamic Conference and the United Nations that it was time for Iraq to take action.

“Supporting military and political actions by terrorist elements in Iraq against neighboring countries is considered dangerous behavior that we cannot tolerate, and a major factor in the chaotic security situation and instability in the region,” Mr. Baqiri told the assembled delegates, according to an Arabic translation of his remarks, which were made in Persian. “We are waiting for the Iraqi government to do what it takes to resolve this issue.”

Later, asked at a briefing about the shelling, Mr. Baqiri said that in dealing with “terrorists who want to enter Iranian soil,” the Iranian government “will confront them and stop them.”

“We have a long history in standing against terrorist groups,” Mr. Baqiri said. “We have made many sacrifices because of this, and we know how to confront these groups.”

Mr. Baqiri’s comments are likely to raise tensions against the bloody backdrop of the Iran-Iraq war, which lasted throughout much of the 1980s and began with a border dispute in the south. Perhaps by design, his words seemed especially jarring because they were delivered during a conference organized to promote harmony in the region.

That conference was organized by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, led by Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd who fought Saddam Hussein’s government as a guerrilla commander, often operating essentially as an ally of Iran. But in a diplomatic meeting in Tehran last week, Mr. Zebari called the shelling indiscriminate and far out of proportion to the threat to Iran.

On Sunday, Mr. Zebari acknowledged that the cross-border attacks were taking place, but described them as infrequent and more of a nuisance than a real threat. Still, Mr. Zebari agreed that it fell to the Iraqi government to rein in the groups.

“But at the same time we want this shelling to stop or end because it’s causing a great deal of unease, and we don’t want to see the atmosphere of confidence to be compromised by these continuing acts,” Mr. Zebari said.

The group that has claimed responsibility for the attacks, called Pezak or Pejak for its acronym, is believed to be made up mainly of Iranian Kurds seeking autonomy for Kurds in Iran. Asked specifically about that group, Mr. Baqiri stated publicly what Iranian officials have been claiming privately for months: that the United States supports the group.

This support, Mr. Baqiri said, amounted to a “double standard” in American policy, given that the United States has repeatedly accused Iran of exporting deadly roadside bombs to Iraq and supporting armed groups here. Those weapons and support, American officials believe, have led directly to the deaths of American and Iraqi troops and other security forces.

Told late Sunday of Mr. Baqiri’s accusations, a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, said, “I am not aware of any support being provided” to Pejak.

While Mr. Baqiri’s comments appeared to be a direct response to the criticisms leveled by Mr. Zebari in Tehran, their precise timing was unlikely to be coincidental, occurring as they did the day before crucial reports on progress in Iraq were to be delivered to Congress by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq. Iran bitterly opposes the American presence in Iraq.

For all the accusations leveled by the Iraqis and the Iranians, the conference, attended by this reporter at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry, offered an extraordinary glimpse into a regional dynamic that generally takes place behind closed doors.

At a gathering in March, Mr. Zebari managed to bring the United States and Iran to the same conference table to discuss issues relating to Iraq. Along with representatives of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and other nations, the United States and Iran were once again seated at the same table, albeit nearly as far apart as the table’s geometry would allow.

And the chill between the two nations was palpable. “The fact is that because of our great love for Iraq, we agreed to come here and sit at one table with our enemies,” Mr. Baqiri said.

The American delegation, led by Patricia A. Butenis, the chargé d’affaires here while Mr. Crocker is in Washington, did not respond to that statement. But the overall dynamic in the room became starkly visible when Mr. Zebari proposed creating a “secretariat” to keep track of the Iraq issues being considered at the meetings.

When it became apparent that the United States and Britain backed Mr. Zebari’s proposal, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and others quickly took the floor to shoot the proposal down. The conference ended with the issue unresolved.

Ahmad Fadam contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from northern Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/world/mi...ast/10iraq.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran closes border with northern Iraq to protest US detention of Iranian
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 24, 2007

Iran closed major border crossings with northern Iraq on Monday to protest the US detention of an Iranian official the military accused of weapons smuggling, a Kurdish official said.

At least four border gates have been closed and one remains open, the governor of the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah, Dana Ahmed Majeed, told The Associated Press. The move threatens the economy of Iraq's northern region - one of the country's few success stories.

In Tehran, the public relations department in Iran's Interior Ministry said no decision had been taken to shut the border.

But Kurdish authorities said the Iranians began shutting down the crossing points late Sunday near the border towns of Banjiwin, Haj Omran, Halabja and Khanaqin.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...Article/Printer

[ABLAT Staff]

U.S.: Iran Smuggling Missiles and Other Advanced Weapons Into Iraq
Monday , September 24, 2007
AP

BAGHDAD —
The U.S. military accused Iran on Sunday of smuggling surface-to-air missiles and other advanced weapons into Iraq for use against American troops.

The charge comes as Iran's leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to begin his first full day in New York City where he plans to speak at Columbia University ahead of his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday

Military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said U.S. troops were continuing to find Iranian-supplied weaponry including the Misagh 1, a portable surface-to-air missile that uses an infrared guidance system.

Other advanced Iranian weaponry found in Iraq includes the RPG-29 rocket-propelled grenade, 240 mm rockets and armor-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, Fox said.

Iran has denied U.S. allegations that it is smuggling weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq, a denial that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" aired Sunday.

"We don't need to do that. We are very much opposed to war and insecurity," said Ahmadinejad, who arrived in New York Sunday to attend the U.N. General Assembly. "The insecurity in Iraq is detrimental to our interests."

Tensions between Iran and the United States have worried Iraqi officials — many of whom are members of political parties with close ties to Tehran.

A 240 mm rocket was fired this month at the main U.S. headquarters base in Iraq, killing one person and wounding 11.

U.S. officials said the rocket was fired from a west Baghdad neighborhood controlled by Shiite militiamen.

The new allegations came as Iraqi leaders condemned the latest U.S. detention of an Iranian in northern Iraq, saying the man was in their country on official business.

On Thursday, U.S. troops arrested an Iranian in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah. U.S. officials said he was a member of the elite Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that smuggles weapons into Iraq.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the Iranian's arrest, saying he understood the man, who has been identified as Mahmudi Farhadi, had been invited to Iraq.

"The government of Iraq is an elected one and sovereign. When it gives a visa, it is responsible for the visa," he told The Associated Press in an interview in New York. "We consider the arrest ... of this individual who holds an Iraqi visa and a (valid) passport to be unacceptable."

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, also demanded the Iranian's release.

The U.S. military said the suspect was being questioned about "his knowledge of, and involvement in," the transportation of EFPs and other roadside bombs from Iran into Iraq and "his facilitation of travel and training in Iran for Iraqi insurgents." The military said no decision had been made about whether to file charges.

An American soldier was killed Saturday and another wounded when an EFP hit their patrol in eastern Baghdad, the military said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Farhadi was in charge of border transactions in western Iran and went to Iraq on an official invitation.

He said Iran expects the Iraqi government to provide security for Iranian nationals there and warned the arrest could affect relations between the two neighbors as well.

Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, said a shipment of chlorine had crossed the border from Jordan after concerns were raised about shortages of the chemical needed to prevent an outbreak of cholera from spreading.

Officials said earlier that as much as 100,000 tons of chlorine was being held up at the border for fear it would be hijacked and used in explosives. Several chlorine truck bombs blamed on suspected Sunni insurgents earlier this year killed scores of people.

Naeem al-Qabi, the deputy chief of Baghdad's municipal council, said warehouses in the capital were preparing to accept the chlorine, which would help purify water supplies.

"There is some administrative work needed to be done and it will be finished very soon," al-Qabi said.

Iraq now has a total of 1,652 confirmed cases of cholera after three new cases were confirmed in Salahuddin province, according to an update on the World Health Organization's Web site on Sunday. Earlier, cholera was confirmed in the provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Tamim and Irbil, as well as a case each in Baghdad and in Basra.

"As the weather cools and becomes more favorable for transmission, the organism is expected to spread to other provinces," the WHO's country office in Iraq said on its Web site.

Cholera is endemic to Iraq, with about 30 cases registered each year. The last major outbreak was in 1999, when 20 cases were discovered in one day.

Also Sunday, Iraq's minister of state for national security, Sherwan al-Waili, took over the security operations center in Basra as tensions rose in the southern city following the assassination of a local representative of Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

The region has been rocked by violence between rival Shiite militias linked to political parties, raising concerns about security as the British military has pulled back its troops from the city center to a nearby airport to allow Iraqi security forces to take over.

Al-Waili told reporters that he will temporarily head the operations center until a new security plan is implemented "very soon" in the city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_st...,297777,00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

"He also decried a recent arrest by U.S. forces of an Iranian citizen who had been invited into the country by Iraqi officials."
----

al-Maliki: Respect Iraqi Sovereignty
Sunday , September 23, 2007
AP

NEW YORK —
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki walked a fine line Sunday: confronting his American backers over what he sees as violations of Iraq's sovereignty while stressing that his relations are rock solid with the country on whose support he still relies.

"Success is shared," he said in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to his deeply intertwined partnership with President Bush and the U.S. government. "God forbid, failure is also shared."

In a half-hour talk conducted in his Manhattan hotel suite, the 57-year-old politician from Iraq's Shiite heartland said it is unacceptable that U.S. security contractors would kill Iraqi civilians, a reference to a Sept. 16 shooting incident involving company Blackwater USA that left at least 11 Iraqis dead.

He also decried a recent arrest by U.S. forces of an Iranian citizen who had been invited into the country by Iraqi officials.

Al-Maliki, who has been leading his shaky, strife-worn Cabinet since May 2006, insisted that Iraq is making progress. He said next year will bring still more improvement to ordinary Iraqis' lives after four years of war.

In the country to attend the U.N. General Assembly, al-Maliki is on his first visit to the United States since the recent reports to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker gave his 16-month-old government a mixed review. In spite of that, he appeared to be in no mood to brook challenges to his leadership.

A confident tone, evident throughout the interview, reflected how the Iraqi leader seems to be taking a firm stand in defense of his government's achievements, even as criticism in the U.S. and elsewhere mounts.

He repeatedly referred to Iraq's sovereignty and how the government was answerable only to the people, in what could be read as a discreet way of telling others that Iraq's security and prosperity will be Baghdad's concern long after foreign forces have been withdrawn.

Al-Maliki stressed that his country has the main duty to protect its people and to decide whom it will or will not let into the country. When U.S. contractors shoot at Iraqi citizens or U.S. troops arrest guests of the government from Iran, that is "unacceptable," he said.

The shooting deaths of civilians at Nisoor Square in Baghdad on Sept. 16 — allegedly at the hands of Blackwater USA security contractors — are among several "serious challenges to the sovereignty of Iraq" by the company, he said. In Arabic, he used the word "tajawiz" which also can be translated as "affront," "violation" or an intentional challenge.

He also complained about the U.S. detention of an Iranian Thursday in northern Iraq who was accused by the military of smuggling weapons to Shiite militias for use against American troops.

Al-Maliki condemned the detention and said it was his understanding that the man had been invited to Iraq by the Sulaimaniyah governorate.

"The government of Iraq is an elected one and sovereign. When it gives a visa, it is responsible for the visa," he said. "We consider the arrest ... of this individual who holds an Iraqi visa and a (valid) passport to be unacceptable."

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, demanded the Iranian's release on Saturday, saying he was a member of an official delegation that was in the autonomous Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah with the full knowledge of the Iraqi government and local authorities.

During the interview, al-Maliki made no direct reference to the recent debates in Washington that have included attempts by Democrats in Congress — regularly thwarted by the Republican minority — to begin to bring home the 170,000 U.S. troops in Iraq earlier than the Bush administration proposes.

Any sniping from politicians does not bother him, he said, as long as he has the support of President Bush and the administration. He also seemed confident of that backing in the aftermath of weeks of intense debate over Iraq policy in the United States.

Al-Maliki, who will meet with Bush on the sidelines of the General Assembly, sought to accentuate the positive.

"The successes realized and the positive climate we have created between the Iraqi government and the multinational forces gives us a solid ... base from which we will be able to take greater steps," he promised.

Al-Maliki also expressed optimism that he will get his Cabinet back up to strength after the walkout in early August by the mainly Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front. He has challenged those Sunni politicians to come back to his government, and said in the interview that if they continue to boycott, he may enlist other Sunnis in their place: specifically the sheiks who have joined U.S. forces in fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq militants in Anbar province.

"We are waiting for clarity from the ministers in the Accordance Front," he said of his attempts to reconstitute his Cabinet. "If they do not return, we will go to the participation of the sons of the (Sunni) tribes."

"We cannot remain with ministerial seats that are empty, and we are in need of the efforts of the ministries and the ministers to provide services (to the Iraqis). We want to announce that 2008 is the year of services for the Iraqi people."

He called on some Arab countries to give the Iraqi government more support and to stop interference in Iraq's internal affairs by closing their borders to the movement of arms or anti-government insurgents.

"The issue of relations with Arab countries has gone through periods of uncertainty," he conceded. "But with the passage of time, the Iraqi government has proven that it is present, supported, strong and represents the will of the Iraqi people.

"What we need from the other Arab countries is a lack of interference in (our) internal affairs."

Maliki is staying under immense security in a luxury hotel not far from the Statue of Liberty and the site of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks, which provided the catalyst for the U.S. decision to invade Iraq.

He brought a large entourage with him; dozens of Iraqi visitors including some senior Iraqi officials could be seen milling on the floor of his hotel and in the lobby.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_st...,297769,00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran confirms shelling of Kurdish guerrilla camps in Iraq
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 25, 2007

Iranian forces have fired artillery against Kurdish guerrilla positions in Iraqi border areas, a state-owned newspaper reported Tuesday in the first Iranian confirmation of the shelling.

Quoting the former chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, the IRAN daily said Iran considers shelling the guerrillas its right in order to protect its security.

"In some cases, military forces have barraged bases of the PEJAK group, the opposition Kurdish guerrilla, in Iraq's soil," IRAN quoted General Yahya Rahim Safavi as saying.

"Some bases of Pejak are in 10 kilometers away from the Iranian border in Iraqi soil. Providing security in the borders is a natural right of Iran," Safavi was quoted as saying.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...Article/Printer

[ABLAT Staff]

Iranian General: U.S. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan Are Within Iran's Firing Range
Monday, September 24, 2007

U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are being monitored by Iran using satellites and other technology and are well within range of Iranian missiles, a top Iranian military official said.

"The Americans should realize that the 200,000 troops they have deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are in Iran’s firing range,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in remarks published by Iranian newspapers Monday.

Speaking on the 27th anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War, Safavi, the former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, said Iran was now in a strong position to defend itself.

Click here to read the Tehran Times article.- http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=153632

"Iran has now a strong intelligence system and missiles. We are closely watching the foreigners' moves in neighboring countries by highly advanced satellite technology and advanced radars. If they enter our airspace or our territorial waters, they will get a fair response," the Iran Daily quoted Safavi as saying.

Speculation about an attack against Iran has been spurred on by recent comments by French officials who have said a nuclear-armed Iran was unacceptable.

Safavi said the U.S. military situation in Iraq and the region had greatly diminished.

“If they think wisely and think about their interests, and if they want energy, political, and economic cooperation with Iran, they must recognize Iran as a power,” he said in comments published in the Tehran Times.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C297837%2C00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran shelling targets deeper inside northern Iraq: mayor
Sep 27 05:21 AM US/Eastern

Iranian forces have shelled deeper into northern Iraq than previously, hitting targets in an area northeast of the city of Arbil, a local official said Thursday.

"The Iranian forces began their bombardments again on Wednesday evening targeting far away from the border," said Abdul Wahid Koani, mayor of the Kurdish Iraqi border town of Joman.

"This time the Iranian bombardment was different as it targeted a town deep inside Iraqi territory," Koani told AFP.

Iranian artillery shells landed in the Haj Umran area, hitting targets on two mountains and villages abandoned from earlier attacks, he said, adding that they reached as far as 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) into Iraqi territory.

Iran confirmed for the first time on Sunday that it had been shelling camps of Kurdish militants inside northern Iraq, saying the local authorities had not listened to its warnings.

The militant Kurdish separatist group PJAK -- linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- has been behind a string of deadly attacks on security forces in northwestern Iran in recent months.

Iraqi Kurdish officials said last month that hundreds of Iraqi Kurds had fled remote mountain villages near the country's eastern frontier after Iranian gunners targeted separatist guerrilla bases.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=07...;show_article=1

[ABLAT Staff]

U.S.: 25 killed in firefight with Shiite militia - Military says troops were targeting commander believed linked to Iran - AP

U.S.: 25 Iran-backed Shiite fighters die in raid
Iraqi officials say civilians are among the dead

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces, backed by aircraft, killed at least 25 Shiite militia fighters north of Baghdad Friday in an operation targeting a cell accused of smuggling weapons from Iran, the military said.

Iraqi officials, however, said American bombs killed civilians who rushed to help those injured in the initial airstrike and said the only ones armed in the neighborhood were locals trying to organize themselves against al-Qaida.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed in roadside bombings Friday — two in southeastern Baghdad and one in Salahuddin province north of the capital, the military said. The military also reported the death of a soldier shot Thursday in a southern section of Baghdad used by al-Qaida cells.

The new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen met Iraq’s prime minister on a visit to Baghdad on Friday and urged Iraqis to seize the opportunity of improved security.

“I see a tremendous amount of change and progress since I was here before,” Mullen told reporters after discussions with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Iraqi capital. “But we still face significant challenges in progress and security.”

Al-Maliki said Iraq has witnessed positive changes “after confronting the terrorist organization of al-Qaida,” but he stressed the need for better weapons for Iraqi troops to enable them to take over security responsibilities so U.S.-led troops can go home.

The Shiite leader also expressed concern about U.S.-sponsorship of Sunni tribal councils that have turned against al-Qaida, demanding that they be accepted “within the framework of the law so that we do not allow the emergence of new militias and so that arms would be with the state, not with the party or the sect.”

U.S.: Shiite commander linked to Iran
In Friday’s pre-dawn raid in Khalis, a Shiite enclave about 50 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on the soldiers with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, and at least one man was carrying what appeared to be an anti-aircraft weapon, the military said. Ground forces called for air support when the fighters kept coming, the military said. Two buildings were destroyed in airstrikes, it said.

An Iraqi army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said U.S. aircraft bombed the neighborhood repeatedly and he claimed civilians, including seven children, were among those killed and three children were among the 28 wounded.

He said the civilians were killed when families rushed out to help those hurt in the initial bombing.

The U.S. military said the raid was aimed at the commander of a rogue militia group believed to be associated with the Quds Force, an elite branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Iraq official: Guards protect against al-Qaida
But the town’s top official said U.S. forces targeted areas built up by locals to protect their Shiite neighborhood against attacks by al-Qaida gunmen. The guards were armed and worked around the clock, he said.

“These places came under attack by American airstrikes,” said Khalis Mayor Odai al-Khadran. “Locals were protecting themselves by guarding their village. They are not militias killing people.”

Since launching a Baghdad security crackdown more than seven months ago, U.S. troops have increasingly battled splinter groups from the country’s most powerful Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army. The Mahdi Army is nominally loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric, who in August ordered a temporary freeze on his followers’ activities — including attacks on U.S. troops.

“We continue to support the government of Iraq in welcoming the commitment by Muqtada al-Sadr to stop attacks and we will continue to show restraint in dealing with those who honor his pledge,” Maj. Anton Alston, a U.S. military spokesman, said Friday. “We will not show the same restraint against those criminals who dishonor this pledge by attacking security forces and Iraqi citizens.”

Another Quds suspect arrested earlier
Last month, the U.S. military arrested a man suspected of being a ranking officer of the Quds Force, the paramilitary branch of the Revolutionary Guards, which has been accused of arming Shiite militants in Iraq. Iran denies the charges.

The U.S. said the arrested Quds officer, Mahmudi Farhadi, was posing as a businessman.

In January, five other Iranians accused of being members of the Quds Force were arrested in a U.S. military raid in Irbil. They remain in U.S. detention. Iran says the men were in Iraq on official business.

The U.S. military said separately that it was investigating the deaths of three civilians who were shot by American troops near a checkpoint.

That investigation focused on a shooting Thursday in Abu Lukah, a village just north of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, the military said. The brief announcement did not identify the civilians by sect or provide other details.

But a local police spokesman said those killed were Shiite members of the North of Hillah Awakening Council, a group of Iraqis who have turned against extremists in the area.

Five council members were guarding a deserted road into their village at about 2 a.m. when U.S. troops fired on them from a watchtower at a nearby military base, the spokesman said, speaking condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. Three guards were killed, another was wounded and the fifth man fled on foot, the official said.

U.S. relies on Sunni tribes
The U.S. military is relying heavily on the growing number of Sunni tribes that have turned against al-Qaida, saying their support is key to a secure Iraq. It also has been trying to extend the movement to Shiites opposed to growing lawlessness among militia factions.

The Americans point to successes in Anbar province, which is now largely peaceful after Sunnis joined the Iraqi military and police force as a way to both protect themselves from extremists and to empower them in the face of the Shiite-led central government in Baghdad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21144702/

[ABLAT Staff]

Official: Iran opens 5 border crossings
By YAHYA BARAZANJI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - Iran on Monday re-opened five border crossing points with Kurdish-run northern Iraq, closed last month by Tehran to protest the U.S. detention of an Iranian official as the Americans step up allegations that the Iranians are fueling the violence in Iraq.

The border points were closed to protest the U.S. detention of an Iranian official who the military said was a member of the paramilitary Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that is accused of provide arms and training to Shiite extremists.

Ratcheting up the rhetoric, top U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus claimed this weekend that the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, was a member of the Quds Force.

"The Quds Force controls the policy for Iraq; there should be no confusion about that either," Petraeus told CNN and other reporters during a trip to a military base on the Iranian border. "The ambassador is a Quds Force member. Now he has diplomatic immunity and therefore he is obviously not subject and he is acting as a diplomat."

Petraeus did not provide details on how he knew Qomi, who has held talks in Baghdad with U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, belonged to the Quds Force, and the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations.

"These are not new comments. Similar accusations were raised, formerly. It is baseless and not right," ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in Tehran.

The Iraqis have found themselves caught between two allies as they struggle to balance the interests of their main sponsor the U.S. military and Iran, a major regional ally. Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq as both countries have majority Shiite populations and many members of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ruling Shiite bloc have close ties with Tehran.

The border points, which had been shut down on Sept. 24, were reopened after a Kurdish delegation traveled to Iran to complain the region should not be punished for something the Americans did. Iraqi and Iranian authorities have claimed that the detained Iranian, Mahmoud Farhadi, was in Iraq on official business and demanded his release.

A spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, Jamal Abdullah, expressed hope the resumed flow of traffic and goods would help reduce price hikes that had plagued the region since the closures.

The reopening is in the "economical interests of both countries," Abdullah said, adding that Tehran and Baghdad share the responsibility to "prevent gunmen from having access to either side of border."

The frictions come at a time when Iraqi-U.S. relations also are strained over the Sept. 16 killing of Iraqi civilians allegedly by security guards from Blackwater USA, which protects American diplomats in Iraq.

An official Iraqi investigation into the Blackwater shootings has raised the number of Iraqis killed to 17 — six more than previously thought — and concluded the gunfire was not warranted and that those involved should face trial.

Government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, announced Sunday that the Iraqi investigative committee had completed its work and found that 17 were killed and 23 wounded.

The committee asserted the shootings, in which also seven cars were burnt or damaged, amounted to a deliberate murder and recommended those involved be held legally accountable.

Its final results showed that the convoy from the Moyock, N.C.-based security company did not come under direct or indirect fire at western Baghdad's Nisoor Square. "It was not hit even by a stone," al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

A U.S.-Iraqi commission also met for the first time on Sunday to review American security operations after the Sept. 16 shootings.

The panel is one of at least three investigations on the incident. Blackwater contends its employees came under fire first. The incident has caused outrage among Iraqis and stepped up calls for the rules governing those protecting American diplomats to be overhauled.

Al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi Cabinet would weigh the Iraqi findings with those of the joint commission "and subsequently adopt the legal procedures to hold this company accountable."

The Sept. 16 incident was one of at least six involving deaths allegedly caused by Blackwater that authorities here have brought to the attention of the Americans.

Separately, U.S. troops killed five and detained three suspected rogue Shiite militants early Monday in eastern Baghdad after they came under attack during an operation targeting a cell involved in kidnappings and attacks with armor-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, the military said.

The raid occurred in Sadr City, a district controlled by the Shiite militia loyal to the radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who in August announced a "freeze" of his militia activities for up to six months to allow for its restructuring.

However, it is unclear how much control he maintains over his fighters as groups have splintered from the main movement and attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces by rogue Shiite elements, which the U.S. military says are funded by Iran, have increased.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Winfield Danielson said al-Sadr's commitment was welcome.

"We will continue to show restraint in dealing with those who honor his pledge. We will not show the same restraint against those criminals who dishonor this pledge by attacking security forces and Iraqi citizens," Danielson said.

The U.S. military also said Monday that American soldiers detained 17 suspected insurgents during a combat operation two days ago in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. The suspects were said to be members of a mortar cell wanted for launching attacks into Baghdad.

___

Associated Press writer Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_...WU7.6zTJnes0NUE

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran continues to meddle
October 29, 2007

James Lyons - A recent report by Gen. Dan McNeill, NATO commander in Afghanistan, details the interception of a shipment of high-tech roadside bombs that clearly originated in Iran. Gen. McNeill stated that the discovery of more than 50 sophisticated roadside bombs and timers in lorries crossing the border from Iran on Sept. 5 proves that Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force are actively supporting the Taliban. Subsequently, at the request of U.S. forces, 350 British troops in Iraq have been deployed to the Iranian border to stop the westward flow of similar weapons.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said in a recent interview that Iran has significantly escalated its involvement in Iraq at all levels, including supplying more sophisticated weapons to be used against U.S. forces. Despite the documented charges, Iran has repeatedly denied providing weapons support to insurgents, or to Sunni and Shia militias in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Even so, Mr. al-Rubaie insists that Iran's top officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have approved these shipments.

What is disturbing is that up to this point, the United States has given Iran no reason to change its policy. In fact, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expanded Tehran's efforts to undercut U.S. objectives. Worse, Iran is actually being supported in these efforts by the World Bank.

What is wrong here? Iran is awash in petrodollars, yet continues to receive buckets of cash from the World Bank. The current World Bank portfolio for Iran consists of six active programs totaling $791 million. Incredibly, part of this stipend is funded by the U.S. Congress — your and my tax dollars at work. In part, the World Bank justifies its actions as a way to reform Iran's oversized, inefficient and untargeted subsidies system and reach its objectives of "growth and social justice." How comforting.

Yet Iran can afford to give Bolivia a $1 billion line of credit, and Mr. Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have signed economic and energy agreements totaling roughly $17 billion. Iran also provides funding to Hezbollah and Hamas as well as continuing support of insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. How much of Iran's terrorist funding, one wonders, is subsidized indirectly by the World Bank?

The United States, its allies, and our military have made a tremendous commitment to bring democracy to the Middle East and in particular to Iraq. We have put our forces on the front line. Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice. One might expect that the Iraqis would appreciate what our military has accomplished, as well as show some gratitude for the hundreds of billions of dollars we have spent to rebuild the Iraqi infrastructure.

Indeed, one might even assume that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would be grateful to our forces and the support Iraq has received from the U.S. One might think it, indeed. But one would be wrong. Instead of gratitude, America is getting a slap in the face. According to the Iraqi electricity minister, Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants. To add insult to injury, they would be built in Sadr City, the Shia enclave in Baghdad controlled by the militias of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

These projects must not go forward. They would give Iran control over a key element in Iraqi reconstruction and provide a commercial vehicle for Tehran's further infiltration of Iraq at all levels. Worse, it is a betrayal of the blood U.S. forces have shed for Iraqi independence.

How many times do we have to relearn the lessons of history? You can't appease dictators — or in this case, a corrupt radical fundamentalist regime with an agenda that poses a direct threat to western democracies. The carrot-and-stick approach advocated by members of the European Union and embraced by our State Department will not work. Sanctions will have no impact on getting Iran to change its behavior. Tehran has gotten away with murder — literally and figuratively — for almost 28 years. The only way to get positive results is to cause the regime to collapse. Actions are needed, not words. Indeed, actions are the only way to get Tehran's attention, because the mullahs know at the end of the day we can do it, and do it quickly.

James Lyons, U.S. Navy retired admiral, was commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations, and deputy chief of naval operations, where he was principal adviser on all Joint Chiefs of Staff matters.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart

[ABLAT Staff]

US army says freed 9 Iranian prisoners in Iraq

Nine include two who were among five captured in northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January on suspicion of aiding Shiite militias
Reuters

The US military said on Friday it had released nine Iranians held in Iraq, days after US officials signaled a possible change in approach by noting positive developments in Iran's involvement in Iraq.

The nine included two who were among five captured in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January on suspicion of aiding Shiite militias in Iraq.

Their capture added to a sharp rise in tensions between Iran and Iraq, and between bitter rivals Washington and Tehran.

"All nine individuals were determined to no longer pose a security risk and to be of no continued intelligence value," the US military said in a statement.

The statement said the nine men had been handed over to the Iraqi government. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the nine were handed over to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

They were then transferred to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.

Iranian state television quoted an unidentified Iranian embassy official as saying that the two captured in Arbil, who were described as diplomats, would return home later on Friday.

The prisoners freed were among 20 Iranians being held by US forces in Iraq, many on suspicion of aiding Shi'ite militias and fuelling Iraq's insurgency in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have died.

US officials say that the five captured in Arbil in January were either members or "associates" of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards's elite Quds Force, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism.

Iran insists that all five detained in Arbil are diplomats.

Tehran has denied stoking violence in Iraq, blaming bloodshed in Iraq on the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003. Washington accuses Tehran of funding, training and arming militias in Iraq.

The US military announced it would release the nine this week after noting last month a sharp drop in mortar attacks on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Many of those attacks have been blamed on Shi'ite militias using Iranian-made weapons.

US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker has also made note of the ceasefire ordered by Moqtada al-Sadr, the head of the feared Shiite Mehdi Army, in August.

Crocker has held three rounds of talks on security in Iraq with his Iranian counterpart this year.

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLa...3469667,00.html

[ABLAT Staff]

Iran Accepts Offer for Talks With U.S. on Iraqi Security
Tuesday , November 20, 2007
AP

TEHRAN, Iran —
Iran is accepting an offer for continued talks with the United States on Iraqi security, with the state IRNA news agency saying Tuesday that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki welcomed a fourth round of discussions.

"Iran will give a positive response to this request," Mottaki was quoted as saying by IRNA, adding that the talks will be held "in the near future."

Iran has earlier said it would consider a new round of talks with the U.S. if requested by both the United States and Iraq.

Tuesday's imminent acceptance comes against a background of U.S. military reports that violence is down 55 percent in Iraq since a U.S.-Iraqi security operation began this summer.

"These talks ... are held within the framework of helping Iraqi stability and security and its people," IRNA also quoted Mottaki as saying.

Iran has long been accused by Washington of training, arming and funding Shiite extremists inside Iraq to kill American troops. But in recent weeks, U.S. officials have said Tehran appears to have halted the flow of arms across its border into Iraq.

Iran has denied the arms-funneling accusations, insisting that it is doing its best to help stabilize its embattled western neighbor.

Mottaki said Iran's consent for a fourth round of talks comes after Tehran received an official U.S. request for talks through the Swiss Embassy, which looks after American interests in Iran.

"The Swiss Embassy in Tehran has handed over to Iran a message from the U.S. government for a new round of talks concerning Iraq," Mottaki said.

Switzerland looks after U.S. interests in Tehran in the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington, which were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover by militants in Tehran. The Revolution toppled the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and installed a hard-line Islamic government.

U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi have held three rounds of talks in Baghad since May on Iraqi but without much apparent headway.

The first round in May broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze between Iran and the United States. Crocker and Qomi agreed during their July talks to set up a security subcommittee to carry forward talks on restoring stability in Iraq.

The subcommittee met in August for the first time in Baghdad and agreed to meet again at a later date but no more information is available on the outcome of those talks.

Iran has also accused the U.S. of providing "support for veteran (militant) elements and giving terrorists a free hand in specific locations in Iraq."

Tehran insists that it supports Nouri al-Maliki's government to establish security and bring stability to Iraq, an apparent reference to the political crisis surrounding the Shiite leader.

Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq, where the majority of the population is also Shiite Muslim and where Shiite political parties have close ties to Tehran.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_st...,312247,00.html