U.S.-led forces show evidence of Iran arms in Iraq

By Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Officials of the U.S.-led coalition on Sunday showed what they said were examples of Iranian weapons used to kill 170 of their soldiers and implicated high-level Iranian involvement in training Iraqi militants.

A senior defense official from the U.S.-led Multinational Force in Baghdad told a briefing that 170 coalition troops had been killed by Iranian-made roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) that he said were smuggled into Iraq.

Officials showed reporters fragments of what they said were Iranian-manufactured weapons, including one part of an EFP -- which is strong enough to penetrate the armor of an Abrams tank -- and parts of 81 mm and 60 mm mortar bombs.

The United States accuses Iran of fanning violence in Iraq by giving sophisticated bomb-making technology, money and training to militant Shi'ite groups, some of whom have links with Iraq's Shi'ite-led government. Iran denies the allegation.

The three defense officials spoke on condition they not be identified.

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.

"The weapons had characteristics unique to being manufactured in Iran...Iran is the only country in the region that produces these weapons," the senior defense official said.

The officials said they were showing the evidence, including a slide of an Iranian-made shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile, out of concern over a vast increase in weapons used by Iraqi militants against U.S. forces in 2006.

"We assess these activities are coming from the highest levels of the Iranian government," said the senior defense analyst, referring to the alleged training of Iraqi militants by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Qods Force.

The U.S. military has seized several Iranians in Iraq in the past two months, including five in the northern city of Arbil on suspicion that they are members of the Qods Force.

Iran does not officially acknowledge the group's existence but the analyst said it reports directly to Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

NO SMOKING GUN

Despite the briefing, the senior defense analyst said there was no "smoking gun" linking Tehran and Iraqi militants and Iraqi smugglers were bringing in the components.

Tehran blames U.S. soldiers for the violence in Iraq and for inflaming tension between majority Shi'ites and once-dominant Sunni Arabs.

"We are a friend of Iraq. We have common culture and history, and Iraq's stability, security and integrity, means Iran's stability, security and integrity," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in Tehran on Sunday marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.