Baghdad, Iraq – The chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq asserted Wednesday that Iranian-made arms manufactured as recently as last year have reached Sunni insurgents here, marking, if true, a new development in the 4-year-old conflict.
Citing testimony from detainees in U.S. custody, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Iranian intelligence operatives were backing Sunni militants in Iraq while at the same time training Shiite extremists in Iran.
“We have, in fact, found some cases recently where Iranian intelligence services have provided to some Sunni insurgent groups some support,” Caldwell told reporters, adding that he was aware of only Shiite extremists being trained inside Iran.
Caldwell cited a collection of munitions on a nearby table that he said were made in Iran and found two days ago in a majority Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad.
Khalil Sadati, media adviser for the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, denied his government was backing militant groups in Iraq.
“There’s no such thing,” Sadati said. “Why don’t you ask the Americans why they continue to make accusations without any evidence?”
For months, U.S. officials have alleged that Iranian entities have provided Shiite militias with weapons, including potent roadside bombs the military calls “EFPs,” or explosively former penetrators, that have killed dozens of U.S. soldiers. Wednesday marked the first time that U.S. officials have claimed that Sunni insurgents were also receiving arms from Iran.
It was unclear what motivation Iran, a Shiite theocracy, would have for backing Sunni insurgents, many of whom are staunchly anti-Iranian and fear the rise of Shiite power in the region. Critics have dismissed the U.S. claims, saying that evidence provided so far gives no solid proof that Iran has supplied weapons to Iraqi militants.
Wednesday’s allegations arrive at a particularly tense period for U.S-Iranian relations. The U.S. military has in custody five Iranian nationals that U.S. officials claim had entered Iraq to foment violence against U.S. soldiers and Iraqis, but who the Iranians say are diplomats.
An Iranian diplomat who was released from captivity inside Iraq last week says that he was tortured by the CIA. He was abducted by unknown gunmen Feb. 4 on a downtown Baghdad street.
“The CIA had no role in this individual’s release or capture. And allegations that he was tortured by the agency are ludicrous,” spokesman Mark Mansfield said Wednesday from CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.
The charges coincided with the beginning of the third month of the U.S. military buildup that will deploy an additional 21,000 troops to Baghdad and other regions in a bid to quell sectarian violence. Caldwell said the results so far have been mixed at best, with violence in Baghdad down but deaths overall rising in the rest of the country.
The U.S. military on Wednesday reported the deaths of two more soldiers, both the victims of attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
