Iranians killed by U.S. troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 16 (UPI) : Three gunmen killed by U.S. troops in Iraq this week were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, a U.S. military statement said in Baghdad.
The U.S. Army statement said that in several anti-insurgency attacks this week, a total of nine gunmen were killed. However, in one raid in northeastern Baghdad targeting a leader of the Iranian Guards' foreign fighters known as Al-Quds, three of his aides were killed by U.S. forces, Kuwait's KUNA news agency reported. The unidentified leader was arrested on suspicion of supplying arms to Iraqi insurgents, the statement said. Iran has repeatedly denied coalition allegations it provided training and weapons to Iraqi rebels. Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Defense said it was planning to designate the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist operation, which would disrupt the group's considerable foreign business transactions. In another security operation, the military statement said six terrorists were killed in northern Baghdad. The raid also netted machine gun rounds and components used to make explosive devices, the report said.


WHACKING IRAN : THE media missed a big one yesterday.


They ran with the story that the Bush administration will soon designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps - a major troublemaker in Iraq - as a terrorist organization. But they didn't look past the public-consumption explanation that the move lets our government go after the Revolutionary Guards' finances and the international companies that cut deals with Tehran's thugs. The real reason for the move is to set up a legal basis for airstrikes or special operations raids on the Guard's bases in Iran. Our policy is that we reserve the right to whack terrorists anywhere in the world. Now we have newly designated terrorists. And we know exactly where they are. This doesn't mean we won't go after their money, too. The Revolutionary Guards have built up a financial empire - they're religious fanatics, but, in their version of Islam, "greed is good." Hurting Iran's assassins in the pocketbook reduces their ability to export terror. But watch that space: We've long delayed taking action against the Iranians who provide Iraq's Shia extremists with the sophisticated IEDs that kill and maim our troops. We fell into the Vietnam-era trap of allowing the enemy a sanctuary - this time, in Iran. The Revolutionary Guards' al-Quds subsidiary helped butcher hundreds of our troops - and got away with it virtually scot-free. Looks like those days are nearing an end.


Iran missiles 'can hit Gulf warships'
Article from: Reuters - From correspondents in Tehran - August 16, 2007 03:13am

IRANIAN missiles can hit warships operating anywhere in the Gulf and Oman Sea, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said today, the day US officials said they might label his forces "terrorists".
But the speech by Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi, according to a report carried by Iran's Fars News Agency, made no mention of the US threat to brand his units.“Our coast-to-sea missile systems can now reach the breadth and length of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea and no warships can pass in the Persian Gulf without being in range of our coast-to-sea missiles,” Cmdr Safavi said. Iran, locked in a standoff with Washington over its nuclear plans, has previously boasted it had missiles that could sink “big warships” in the Gulf, a region where US aircraft carriers and warships operate. The US is seeking to isolate Iran over what it says is Tehran's bid to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran insists its atomic plans are directed at making electricity to preserve its oil and gas for exports.Cmdr Safavi also said Iran's missiles with a range of 2000km were fitted with equipment that enabled them to be remote controlled, an apparent reference to the Shahab-3 missile, although he did not name it. That missile could hit Israel. Cmdr Safavi said the Revolutionary Guards ground forces had missiles in its arsenal that could penetrate the armour plating which he said was fitted to Israel's Merkava tanks and the US Abrams tanks. US officials said they may soon designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organisation in a move targeting the finances of the group.

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