Iran Warned over Iraq Raids

17/10/2005| IslamWeb

The United States and its chief ally Britain have warned Iran over its possible involvement in bomb attacks in Iraq, top officials said on Sunday.

Iran denies meddling in Iraq and says the accusations against it are psychological warfare tied to efforts by Washington and London to report Tehran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear programme.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said this month there was evidence that Iran or its Lebanese Hizbollah allies were the source of sophisticated technology used in roadside bombs, known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), that have targeted British soldiers in southern Iraq.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington had warned Tehran over the issue.

The US has no formal diplomatic ties with Iran, but occasionally talks to the government through Swiss diplomats in Tehran or through the Islamic republic's ambassador to the UN in New York.

Iran says Britain has presented no evidence linking it or Hizbollah to insurgent activity in Iraq, an argument disputed by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

London has offered Tehran evidence supporting British government claims that Iran is linked to attacks on British troops in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

"What we have presented to the Iranians is evidence which, in our judgement, clearly links the IEDs which have been used against British and other troops, mainly in the south of Iraq, to (militant group) Hizbollah and to Iran," Straw said in London.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other senior officials have said there is evidence that a series of deadly attacks on troops in southern Iraq lead back to Iran and Hizbollah.

However, Iran's ambassador to Britain, Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli, denied the charge after Straw's comments. "We have already rejected categorically any link between Iran and the incidents that have taken place in Iraq for the British troops," he said.

Tensions between Tehran and London were exacerbated by deadly explosions in southwestern Iran on Saturday which some state media blamed on Britain.

PHOTO CAPTION

A British soldier prepares to jump from a burning tank which was set ablaze after a shooting incident in the southern Iraqi city of Basra September 19, 2005. (REUTERS)