Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Iran

Iran Rejects U.S. Charges That It Supplies Iraqi Weapons

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (file photo) (Fars)

February 12, 2007 -- Tehran has dismissed U.S. accusations that the "highest levels" of Iran's government are responsible for supplying sophisticated roadside bombs to Shi'ite Muslim insurgents in Iraq.

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February 12, 2007

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said today that the "unacceptable allegations" are "baseless" propaganda.

U.S. military officials told reporters in Baghdad on February 11 that such bombs had killed more than 170 U.S. soldiers and injured hundreds of other U.S. personnel in Iraq since June 2004.

The officials called the bombs "explosively formed penetrators" and said they are capable of slicing through the armor of a U.S. Abrams tank.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, presented to reporters what they described as evidence linking the weapons to Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Al-Quds Force.

Iranian Counterclaims

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, in an interview today with U.S. television network ABC, dismissed the allegations.

He described the weapons accusations as "excuses for [the United States] to prolong their stay in Iraq" and said his country is "opposed to any kind of conflict in Iran."

He added that his country is "opposed to foreign presence in Iraq."

(compiled from agency reports)

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