Iran government link to Iraq not clear: US general
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Iranian weapons found in improvised explosive devices in Iraq and the capture of some Iranians did not by themselves implicate Tehran, the head of the U.S. military's joint chiefs of staff said on Tuesday.
Officials of U.S.-led forces in Baghdad showed journalists on Sunday fragments of what they said were Iranian-manufactured weapons and said that those at the "highest levels" of Tehran's government were involved in arming Iraqi militants.
Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace told a news conference in Jakarta that some of the material that has been used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq was from Iran and that some Iranians had been captured during operations against these networks.
"That could not translate to that the Iranian government per se procured these or is directly involved in doing this," Pace said.
"What it does say that things that are made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers and that some Iranians have been captured in the process of the coalition going after the networks," he said.
The White House said Pace was not disagreeing with the U.S. assessment that weapons manufactured in Iran were being used against American forces in Iraq, but that he was being precise in that there was no evidence to blame specific Iranian government officials for backing the activity.
"We don't have the intelligence that makes it that specific," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
But members of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which are part of the Iranian government, are involved in destabilizing activities in Iraq, Snow said. "The fact is the (Iranian) government knows about it," he said.
Washington has hardened its rhetoric over Iran's alleged role in the war in Iraq and tension has been growing between the two arch-foes over Tehran's nuclear plans.
"I can tell you we will continue to aggressively pursue anybody who is trying to kill our troops inside Iraq," Pace said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied on Monday that Iran is supplying sophisticated weapons to Iraqi militants and said peace would return to Iraq only when U.S. and other foreign forces leave.
Pace is on a short visit to Indonesia to discuss military and other ties.
