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WASHINGTON D.C. (April 8, 2008) - The recent spike in violence
in southern Iraq highlights the destructive role Iran has played in
funding, training, arming and directing extremist "special groups"
in Iraq and generates renewed concern about Iran's influence in the
country, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said today.
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force
Iraq, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee along
with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker to provide an update
on the situation there and report on progress made since
September.
Both leaders said Iraq has made significant security progress,
but Iran's support to terror networks is a serious threat to
stability in the new democracy.
At the end of March, violence flared in the southern city of
Basra after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered Iraqi
forces to clamp down on illegal militias, criminals and thugs.
Shiia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi organization
contested the Iraqi security forces, and fighting spread north to
Baghdad and other Shiia cities in the south.
Petraeus said today that the bulk of the weaponry the extremist
special groups used during that surge in violence was supplied by
Iran.
"The special groups activities have, in fact, come out in
greater relief during the violence of recent weeks," Petraeus said.
"It is they who have the expertise to shoot rockets more
accurately, shoot mortars more accurately, and to employ some of
the more advanced material -- the explosively formed projectiles
and the like -- that have not just killed our soldiers and Iraqi
soldiers, but also have been used to assassinate two southern
governors in past months and two southern police chiefs."
This higher level of training and weaponry points to Iranian
influence on the special groups, Petraeus said. The recent violence
helped to highlight the problem of Iranian influence for the Iraqi
government, he said, noting that government officials have conveyed
concern to their Iranian contacts about the activities with the
special groups.
Crocker agreed that Iranian influence remains a problem in Iraq,
and that recent violence has highlighted that problem. The United
States knows more about Iranian-supported extremist networks in
Iraq than ever, he said, and will continue to uproot and destroy
them. At the same time, the United States is supporting
constructive relations between Iran and Iraq to improve the
security situation in Iraq, he said.
"I think one might look for a reconsideration in Tehran as to
just where they want to go in Iraq, because over the long term, …
their interests, I think, are best served by the success of the
state and this government," Crocker said. "No country other than
Iraq itself suffered more under Saddam Hussein than did Iran, with
that brutal eight-year war. So they should be thinking
strategically. And the reaction to the militias they support, I
would hope, would lead them to do that."
Together with Iraqi security forces, coalition forces have
focused on the Iranian-backed special groups, Petraeus said. Iraqi
and coalition leaders have repeatedly noted a desire that Iran live
up to promises made by its leaders to stop support for these
extremist groups, he said, but the activities have continued.
"We should all watch Iranian actions closely in the weeks and
months ahead, as they will show the kind of relationship Iran
wishes to have with its neighbor and the character of future
Iranian involvement in Iraq," he said.
Crocker also discussed the need for Iraq's neighbors to become
invested in Iraq's future. Turkey hosted the second ministerial
meeting of Iraq's neighbors in November, and Kuwait will host the
third meeting later this month, he noted. While the presence of the
PKK terrorist organization on the Iraqi-Turkish border has
increased tension between the two countries, the governments are
still working to strengthen their ties, he said.
Support for Iraq from other Arab countries needs to improve,
Crocker said, applauding Bahrain's recent announcement that it will
return an ambassador to Iraq. Other Arab nations need to follow
suit, as Iraq is a founding member of the Arab League and an
integral part of the Arab world, he said.
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