Another very interesting piece of the "Iran puzzle" ... Remember that, just a few days ago, Secretary Rumsfeld stated that Iran was sneaking weapons into Iraq!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16220430%5E2703,00.html
US accuses Iran of smuggling weapons into Iraq
A correspondent in Baghdad
11aug05
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused Tehran of smuggling weapons into Iraq, after US intelligence reports claimed a cache of bombs found in the country's north had come from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
"It is true that weapons clearly, unambiguously, from Iran have been found in Iraq," Mr Rumsfeld said.
"It's a problem for the Iraqi Government. It's a problem for the coalition forces. It's a problem for the international community. And ultimately, it's a problem for Iran."
The US military believes a hidden store of manufactured bombs seized in Iraq about two weeks ago was smuggled into the country by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. If the intelligence is correct, it would suggest the Revolutionary Guard is moving into a conflict that for the past year has been dominated by Sunnis rather than Shi'ites.
The claim came as The New York Times reported that armed men had entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm and deposed the city's mayor, installing in his place a member of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite militia.
The deposed mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi, who was not in his offices at the time, called the move a municipal coup d'etat. He added that he had gone into hiding for fear of his life.
"This is the new Iraq," said Mr Tamimi, a secular engineer with no party affiliation. "They use force to achieve their goal."
The group that ousted him insisted that it had the authority to assume control of Iraq's capital city and that Mr Tamimi was in no danger. The man the group installed, Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organisation, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
The militia has been credited with keeping the peace in predominantly areas in southern Iraq, but also accused of abuses such as forcing women to wear the veils demanded by conservative Shi'ite religious law.
US officials said the Iranian weapons haul was significant because it indicated manufactured bombs were being introduced in a conflict that had seen widespread use of "improvised explosive devices" by insurgents.
Last week, US soldiers discovered dozens of recently manufactured "shaped" charges smuggled into northeastern Iraq from Iran. The bombs focus the force of an explosion to blast through even the heavy armour on an M-1 tank. They were first reported to be in Iraq several months ago, amid an escalation in the size and deadliness of the bombs devised by insurgents.
Triple-stacked anti-tank mines were reported to have been used in an explosion last week that flipped over a US armoured amphibious assault vehicle, killing 14 marines and an interpreter in one of the biggest single losses of the war.
US military officials estimate that 70per cent of US casualties stem from improvised bombs.
Mr Rumsfeld and other senior administration officials have often attacked Syria for allowing Iraqi insurgents to move foreign fighters, money and arms across its borders.
They had been more reserved about Iran, whose Shi'ite regime has been viewed as more closely aligned to Iraq's Shi'ite majority than to an insurgency that has been drawn mainly from the country's Sunni minority.
"It's a big border and unhelpful for Iranians to be allowing weapons of those types to be crossing the border," Mr Rumsfeld said.
"The people in that region want this situation stabilised with exception of Iran and Syria."
US commanders have warned of a surge in insurgent violence in the coming weeks as Iraqis draft and vote on a constitution, and then hold elections for a new government in December.
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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16220430%5E2703,00.html
US accuses Iran of smuggling weapons into Iraq
A correspondent in Baghdad
11aug05
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused Tehran of smuggling weapons into Iraq, after US intelligence reports claimed a cache of bombs found in the country's north had come from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
"It is true that weapons clearly, unambiguously, from Iran have been found in Iraq," Mr Rumsfeld said.
"It's a problem for the Iraqi Government. It's a problem for the coalition forces. It's a problem for the international community. And ultimately, it's a problem for Iran."
The US military believes a hidden store of manufactured bombs seized in Iraq about two weeks ago was smuggled into the country by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. If the intelligence is correct, it would suggest the Revolutionary Guard is moving into a conflict that for the past year has been dominated by Sunnis rather than Shi'ites.
The claim came as The New York Times reported that armed men had entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm and deposed the city's mayor, installing in his place a member of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite militia.
The deposed mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi, who was not in his offices at the time, called the move a municipal coup d'etat. He added that he had gone into hiding for fear of his life.
"This is the new Iraq," said Mr Tamimi, a secular engineer with no party affiliation. "They use force to achieve their goal."
The group that ousted him insisted that it had the authority to assume control of Iraq's capital city and that Mr Tamimi was in no danger. The man the group installed, Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organisation, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
The militia has been credited with keeping the peace in predominantly areas in southern Iraq, but also accused of abuses such as forcing women to wear the veils demanded by conservative Shi'ite religious law.
US officials said the Iranian weapons haul was significant because it indicated manufactured bombs were being introduced in a conflict that had seen widespread use of "improvised explosive devices" by insurgents.
Last week, US soldiers discovered dozens of recently manufactured "shaped" charges smuggled into northeastern Iraq from Iran. The bombs focus the force of an explosion to blast through even the heavy armour on an M-1 tank. They were first reported to be in Iraq several months ago, amid an escalation in the size and deadliness of the bombs devised by insurgents.
Triple-stacked anti-tank mines were reported to have been used in an explosion last week that flipped over a US armoured amphibious assault vehicle, killing 14 marines and an interpreter in one of the biggest single losses of the war.
US military officials estimate that 70per cent of US casualties stem from improvised bombs.
Mr Rumsfeld and other senior administration officials have often attacked Syria for allowing Iraqi insurgents to move foreign fighters, money and arms across its borders.
They had been more reserved about Iran, whose Shi'ite regime has been viewed as more closely aligned to Iraq's Shi'ite majority than to an insurgency that has been drawn mainly from the country's Sunni minority.
"It's a big border and unhelpful for Iranians to be allowing weapons of those types to be crossing the border," Mr Rumsfeld said.
"The people in that region want this situation stabilised with exception of Iran and Syria."
US commanders have warned of a surge in insurgent violence in the coming weeks as Iraqis draft and vote on a constitution, and then hold elections for a new government in December.
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