US claims Iranian bombs have killed 170 Iraq coalition troops; Newsweek: Unlikely to convince doubters
Sunday February 11, 2007
Sophisticated Iranian-built bombs smuggled into Iraq have killed at least 170 US and allied soldiers since June 2004, senior US defense officials have said, amid ongoing carnage. US defense officials presented their evidence at a background briefing in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, after Washington stepped up criticism of Iran.
But the "long-awaited Baghdad briefing," though it "had plenty of props," is "unlikely to convince the doubters," Babak Dehghanpisheh reports in a web-exclusive article for Newsweek. One analyst told reporters that "smoking gun" evidence, such as an "Iranian standing over an America" was "never going to happen."
The allegation that Iran is backing Shiite extremists came as suspected Sunni insurgents killed more than 30 people Sunday, most of them members of the security forces, in a spate of bomb and gun attacks in northern Iraq.
The allegations will feed a fierce international debate over relations with the Islamic republic, whose nuclear programme is already at the centre of mounting tension amid reports that America is readying air strikes.
"Iran is involved in supplying explosively formed projectiles or EFPs and other material to Iraqi extremist groups," a senior official from the US-led multinational coalition told journalists.
Three coalition officials met reporters to point the finger at the Al-Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, part of Tehran's elite forces accused of links with foreign militants.
"The Qods Force arms extremists and insurgents to carry out terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare," he said. "The Qods Force provides advice, training and weapons to proxy forces in Iraq."
The men spoke on condition of anonymity for their security and cameras and recording devices were barred from the briefing, where an array of mortar shells and booby traps were laid out for inspection.
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