Don’t Bomb Iran

No proof Iran backing militants in NE Iraq-general
08 Sep 2006 16:15:24 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. general in Iraq on Friday said he had no proof of Iranians supporting armed militants in his area, which stretches north of Baghdad and borders Iran.

The comments from Army Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner follow repeated accusations by American officials that the Shi’ite-led Islamic state is fueling sectarian violence in Iraq by funding, training and supplying Shi’ite groups there. But scant evidence has been offered.

Turner, speaking from Iraq to reporters in Washington, said he had heard reports of Iranians aiding militant groups and that weapons believed to be Iranian had been found. But he could not offer specific details about that activity in his area.

“I don’t think we have any specific proof of Iranians in our area other than reports,” Turner said.

“We have discovered caches or the Iraqi border police have discovered caches of weapons that look like they were abandoned quickly in their area along the border,” he said. “There’s not been a lot.”

He said weapons used against coalition forces were made in Iran, but could not say where along the border these weapons were crossing into Iraq.

Senior U.S. military and civilian officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, have regularly charged Iran with supporting Shi’ite groups in Iraq.

Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director of regional operations for the U.S. military’s Joint Staff, last month said this was a policy of Iran’s central government, and said the evidence was “irrefutable.”

The U.S. criticism of Iran comes as Tehran faces off against world powers over its nuclear program and follows accusations that Iran helped Hizbollah stage missile attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.