Latest News from a hell hole called the FASCIST ISLAMIC BLOODY REPUBLIC OF DEATH AND DISTRUCTION - THE IRI -

Hezbollah instructors trained Shiite militiamen at remote camps in southern Iraq until three months ago when they slipped across the border to Iran — presumably to continue instruction on Iranian soil, according to two Shiite lawmakers and a top army officer. The three Iraqis claim the Lebanese Shiites were also involved in planning some of the most brazen attacks against U.S.-led forces, including the January 2007 raid on a provincial government compound in Karbala in which five Americans died.
By FrontPage;com
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Posted 2/7/2008 @ 9:5:56 GMT Stopping Iran Twenty-seven years ago this month, the Israeli Air Force launched a surprise attack on Iraq's Osirak reactor. The mission was complex. Israel had to fly over hostile territory, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, undetected in order to reach the Iraqi reactor. Once there, they had to destroy Osirak and get out. There was good reason to believe that not all of the pilots that left Israel that day would return home. more By North Star Writers Group

Posted 2/7/2008 @ 9:0:51 GMT Iranian Leaders Offer Nuclear Hope The beating of the war drums over Iran may get most of the attention, but there are growing signs, also, of progress towards a possible diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff. This week, the top foreign policy adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that Iran could respond favorably to the latest deal offered by Western negotiators, which he described as acceptable "in principle." more By Time

Posted 2/7/2008 @ 8:56:6 GMT Iran Says Offer is Acceptable 'In Principle' A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader indicated on Tuesday that Tehran could look favourably on the recent international offer put to it, describing the proposal as acceptable “in principle”. Ali-Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister who advises Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top leader, on international issues, said it was “expedient” for Iran to resume nuclear negotiations on the offer made by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. more By The Financial Times

Posted 2/7/2008 @ 8:45:56 GMT Iran Appears to Warm to Diplomacy Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tuesday that prospects for a military attack by either the United States or Israel on the Islamic republic before the end of the Bush administration are "almost nil," and he dismissed a recent Israeli military exercise and warnings from Washington as "psychological warfare." more By Washington Post

Posted 1/7/2008 @ 16:23:28 GMT The Last Resort: Consequences of Preventive Military Action Against Iran Accepted wisdom suggests that preventive military action against Iran's nuclear program would entail significant risks and uncertain prospects of success. Much of the public debate surrounding these risks and uncertainties has focused on strictly military-technical considerations. Although important, these issues do not address the key political and contextual questions underlying any discussion of prevention and deterrence. For example, how would Iran -- and the international community -- respond to military strikes? Would such action convince the regime to permanently abandon its nuclear activities, or would Tehran simply rebuild? And what effect would such action have on subsequent diplomatic or military efforts? more By The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Latest News From IRAN VA JAHAN

Iranian snow storm 'kills 21'
Story Highlights - State media reports 21 dead, 88 injured - International and domestic flights cancelled, schools and government offices closed - Authorities warn more snow on the way .
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- The heaviest snowfall in more than a decade has left at least 21 people dead in Iran -- some buried under avalanches, some frozen to death and others killed in traffic accidents, state media reported Monday.The storm forced schools and government offices to close, blocking major roads and leading to the cancellation of all domestic and international flights. As much as 22 inches of snow has fallen in areas of northern and central Iran since Saturday, said meteorologist Ali Abedini.
"At least 21 people have been killed and 88 others injured ... as a result of heavy snow," state-run radio reported. "Some died of the severe cold, some were buried under avalanches and others died after their cars overturned on snow-covered roads." The cold weather has caused problems for residents in western Iran, with about a dozen towns suffering from gas cuts due to a surge in demand and a cut in gas exports from Turkmenistan. Government officials have urged citizens to reduce their notoriously high consumption of gas to ensure there are no further cuts or shortages. Authorities have also urged Iranians to cancel unnecessary travel and warned that the snowfall would continue in the coming days.

Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Iran's top leader
IHT Monday, January 7, 2008 9:31:00 PM CET
In the past, when Ahmadinejad was attacked by political opponents, the criticisms were usually silenced by Khamenei. But that public support has been conspicuously absent in recent months....

Memo From Tehran :Memo From Tehran: A President’s Defender Keeps His Distance : Ahmadinejad and Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.... Entities:Mohammad Khatami[1]; Ali Larijani[1]; Mohammad Reza[1]; Ruhollah Khomeini[5]; Saeed Leylaz[1];


Bush Trip Gave Irresistible Urge to Tweak Tail of a Superpower
January 07, 2008 The Times Richard Beeston
When the White House announced that President Bush would travel to the Middle East this week to bolster support among America’s vulnerable Arab allies in the Gulf, there was always the risk that militants in the Iranian regime would feel forced to respond. In Tehran the Gulf is known as the “Persian Gulf” and nothing could be calculated to upset the regime more than Mr Bush’s unprecedented five-day procession through the oil-rich region, where America maintains 40,000 troops, besides the forces deployed in Iraq.From Friday the US leader will work his way down the Gulf states, starting in Kuwait and travelling to Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Overhead, US fighters will be stepping up patrols to protect Air Force One, while below the warships of the US Fifth Fleet will be ready to respond to any Iranian moves.For this reason, commanders in the naval wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) may have been ordered or encouraged to cause mischief in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway at the entrance to the Gulf through which 25 per cent of the world’s crude oil is shipped.The IRGC is one of the most powerful institutions in Iran, and one of its most celebrated former members is none other than President Ahmadinejad. The force was responsible last year for the ambush and capture of 15 British sailors and Marines, who were paraded on television and held for two weeks before being freed, humiliated but unharmed.The IRGC regards the Gulf waters as its own and feels that it has the right to patrol at will. With Mr Bush expected to step up his rhetoric against Iran during his visit, Tehran may have wanted to remind him – and the world – about the vulnerability of global energy supplies, particularly with crude oil selling for $100 a barrel.There is also the temptation to tweak the tail of the world’s only superpower. A year ago Mr Bush deployed two aircraft carrier battle groups in the Gulf and threatened to use force against Iran to prevent the country acquiring nuclear weapons. Many in the region believed that confrontation was inevitable.Now Mr Bush is weakened as his presidency enters its final year. A US National Intelligence Estimate published last month revealed that Washington believes that Iran has suspended its atomic weapons programme. The threat of the use of force against one of the origial “axis of evil” regimes has evaporated.Domestic politics in Iran may also have played a part in the Hormuz incident. The Iranian regime may have felt compelled to act in the increasingly tense political climate ahead of parliamentary elections in March, where the ruling hardliners are facing a stiff challenge from more moderate forces.The Iranian mission was carried out by five IRGC speed boats that “swarmed” a US Navy cruiser, a destroyer and a frigate. The confrontation was hardly an even match. Each of the multimillion-dollar US warships could have destroyed the Iranian craft in seconds.But that does not diminish the seriousness of the incident. Ever since the USS Cole was rammed by an al-Qaeda suicide boat in Aden harbour in 2000, killing 17 US sailors, US forces have been trained to use lethal force to prevent such attacks.As many Iranians remember only too well, accidents can happen in the crowded air and waterways of the Gulf.In 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air passenger jet, killing 290 people, after mistaking the aircraft for an Iranian fighter-bomber.After three decades of separation from the West, Iranian motives and actions are never easy to interpret. Sunday’s incident is particularly curious because it came after a speech last week by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, who raised the possibility of one day restoring relations with the “Great Satan”, as America is commonly known by the regime.“I would be the first one to support these relations,” Ayatollah Khamenei told students in the central Iranian province of Yazd. “Of course, we never said the severed relations were for ever.”But he added that no one should expect any improvements soon. “For the time being, it [restoring ties] is harmful and we should not pursue it.”Sunday’s incident in the Gulf will serve to remind those running in the US presidential elections that, for the next incumbent of the White House, resolving the festering relations with Iran remains one of America’s foreign policy priorities.

Watch the video here: Iranian ships 'harass' U.S. Navy :

(CNN) -- Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats "harassed and provoked" three U.S. Navy ships early Sunday in international waters, the U.S. military said Monday, calling the encounter a "significant" confrontation.The USS Hopper, seen in a file photo, was one of the ships harassed by Iranian boats, officials say.An Iranian official, however, said it was not a serious incident, the state-run news agency IRNA reported. U.S. military officials said the incident occurred early Sunday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel leading in and out of the Persian Gulf. They said that as the guided missile destroyer USS Hopper, the guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal and the guided-missile frigate USS Ingraham were entering the Persian Gulf, five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and swarmed them. The Iranian boats made "threatening" moves toward the U.S. ships and in one case came within 200 yards of one of them, the U.S. officials said. Watch what U.S. officials are saying about the incident »
The U.S. Navy also received a radio transmission that officials believe came from the Iranian boats. The transmission said, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the U.S. military officials told CNN. When the U.S. ships heard that radio transmission, they took up their gun positions and officers were "in the process" of giving the order to fire when the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said. After the radio transmission, one of the Iranian boats dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships, the officials said. It was not clear what was in the boxes, the officials said.No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

Don't Miss These : See a map of the Strait of Hormuz » / Iran patrols Persian Gulf, U.S. says

A Pentagon spokesman characterized the incident as "perplexing" and "cause for real concern."
"Such actions are dangerous and could have quickly escalated into something much worse," said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary. "We see it as further evidence that Iran is unpredictable and remains a threat." Iran's foreign ministry spokesman downplayed the incident, calling it "ordinary," IRNA reported. Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that similar incidents had occurred in the past between Iranian and American ships, and the issues were resolved as soon as the ships recognized each other, IRNA reported. The Strait of Hormuz, which is in international waters, is near much of the world's oil supplies.The White House urged Iran to refrain from "such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States probably would not make a formal protest to Iran about the incident.McCormack said, "I can't speak to their rationale, their reasoning, their motivations."Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Tehran, while Pakistan represents Iranian interests in Washington. McCormack declined to comment further on the incident but said, "The U.S. will confront Iranian behavior where it seeks to do harm either to us or to our friends and allies in the region." On Friday, the U.S. Navy announced the same team of naval ships had been searching in the Arabian Sea for a sailor missing for a day from the Hopper. The outcome of the search was not immediately known Monday. In November the U.S. military reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps had taken command of Tehran's naval operations in the Persian Gulf. The United States considers the Revolutionary Guard to be a major supporter of terrorist activity. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have increased over the last few years. The U.S. has concerns about Iran's nuclear program and has accused Iran of supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq who target American forces.In March, Iran detained 15 crew members of a British ship before releasing them after nearly two weeks. Iran alleged the British vessel strayed into Iranian waters -- an assertion Britain strongly denied.

US Tells Iran to Back Down After Persian Gulf SkirmishThe White House has told Iran that it risked provoking "a dangerous incident" after a weekend skirmish brought the two nations to the brink of conflict. US naval commanders were about to fire on a group of Iranian attack boats after being challenged at the mouth of the Gulf on Sunday, the Pentagon has disclosed. By The Telegraph

As the Regime Cracks Down, Life Goes on Behind Closed Curtains
Last week our Iran correspondent was expelled without explanation. In his last dispatch from Tehran, he talks about the country he grew to love and which he found to be at odds with its image as an austere Islamic nation .By Robert Tait

Iran Boats 'Threatened to Blow up US Ships' : January 07, 2008 BBC News BBCi
Five Iranian speedboats harassed three US navy ships at the weekend, approaching them and radioing a threat to blow them up, US officials say. The incident happened in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route. The US said their ships were about to open fire when the Iranian boats withdrew.The White House has warned Iran against "provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident".Iran played down the event, describing it as an "ordinary occurrence"."The issue is resolved after both sides recognise each other," Iranian state media quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.'Serious provocation 'The speedboats, believed to belong to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, came within about 200m of the US vessels, Pentagon officials said."I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the Iranians said in a radio transmission, according to US officials.The Iranian boats were operating at "distances and speeds that showed reckless, dangerous and potentially hostile intent," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.He said at least some of the boats were visibly armed.US sailors assumed battle stations and the captain on one of the ships was about to order an attack when the Iranian boats turned away, dropping unidentified objects in the path of the vessel, US officials said.The confrontation, which occurred at about 0400 local time on Sunday or late on Saturday in Washington, lasted about 20 minutes, according to the US.The Pentagon has insisted that the three US vessels - identified as navy cruiser USS Port Royal, destroyer USS Hopper and frigate USS Ingraham - were in international waters.The incident follows a row that erupted last March when Iranian Revolutionary Guards captured 15 British sailors and held them for nearly two weeks.Iran said the crew had strayed into Iranian waters, a claim which Britain disputed.The Revolutionary Guards, set up in 1979 to defend the country's Islamic system, has been designated by the US as a "proliferator of weapons of mass estruction".Ready to respondThe latest confrontation comes as US President George Bush is to begin a tour of the Middle East on Wednesday.Long-standing US-Iranian tensions remain over Iran's nuclear programme, although these have been somewhat reduced since the US intelligence community released a report in late 2007 that said Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.The BBC's Paul Reynolds says the key question is whether this is a one-off incident or whether it heralds a more aggressive stance by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.The latter policy would be unexpected, given the lowering of tension over the nuclear issue, he says, but as the incident of the captured British naval personnel showed, tensions are always high.There is no doubt that the US is ready to respond, our correspondent adds

Posted 7/1/2008 @ 18:2:10 GMTIran Confirms Incident with U.S. ShipsTEHRAN -- Iran on Monday confirmed there was an "incident" between Iranian and U.S. ships but gave no details, an Iranian news agency reported, after Washington said Iranian vessels threatened their ships in the Strait of Hormuz. more By Reuters

Posted 7/1/2008 @ 12:42:38 GMTIran Interrupts Natural Gas Supplies to TurkeyANKARA -- Iran has suspended supplies of natural gas to Turkey due to a cold
front which brought a sharp fall in temperatures, rain and snow in the region, Turkish television reported on Monday. more By RIA Novosti

Posted 7/1/2008 @ 12:38:10 GMTTrouble aheadWhen taking the oath of office on January 20 2009, the next president of the United States will be assuming responsibility for the most difficult, dangerous and complex set of foreign-policy challenges ever to face a newcomer to the White House. Whatever is then happening in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Arab-Israel peace process, it is safe to predict that George W. Bush will, in each case, be passing on to his successor either a daunting piece of unfinished business or a full-blown crisis. more By The Financial Times

Posted 7/1/2008 @ 10:54:10 GMTIsrael to Toughen Response to RocketsJERUSALEM -- Israeli security officials said yesterday that a rocket with a longer range than usual fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza into the coastal city of Ashkelon on Thursday had been made in Iran. It was the first such rocket to land in Israel, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel would intensify its response to the firing of such longer-range rockets. more By The Boston Globe

Posted 7/1/2008 @ 10:48:59 GMTIran, then AnnapolisEvery which way, US President George W. Bush is trying to send a signal, as he heads to the region this week, that he is with Israel and with the Arab states that feel threatened by Iran. more By The Jerusalem Post

Posted 7/1/2008 @ 10:40:22 GMTAhmadinejad Seeks Budget Boost Ahead of ElectionTEHRAN -- Iran's president proposed a bigger budget for 2008-09 to parliament on Monday that he said would promote social equality but critics fear will further stoke double-digit inflation in OPEC's second biggest producer. more By Reuters

Iran: dargiri zahedan - The Forces of Oppression shooting at defenceless unarmed Iranians in Zahedan




Bush Takes Hard Line on Iran Before Mideast VisitPresident Bush intends to use his first extended tour of the Middle East to rally support for international pressure against Iran, even as a recent U.S. intelligence report downplaying Tehran's nuclear ambitions has left Israeli and Arab leaders questioning Washington's resolve, according to senior U.S. officials, diplomats and regional experts. more By The Washington Post

Posted 6/1/2008 @ 23:57:6 GMTArmed Robbers Have Hands, Feet AmputatedIran amputated the right hand and left foot of five criminals convicted of armed robbery and hostage-taking, the student ISNA news agency reported today. The amputation, a legally permissible but rarely used punishment in Iran, was carried out in the presence of doctors in the southeastern city of Zahedan, capital of the restive Sistan-Baluchestan province. more By Agence France-Presse

Posted 6/1/2008 @ 10:55:45 GMTThe Gag is TightenedAs a literary journalist in Iran, I have often wondered why the country's greed for literature abruptly ended when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005. more By The Observer

Posted 6/1/2008 @ 10:49:15 GMTIran Says U.S. Failing in Middle East TEHRAN -- Iran accused the United States on Sunday of interfering in the Middle East after President George W. Bush said he would press allies to help keep Iran's "aggressive ambitions" in check during a regional trip this week. more By Reuters

Posted 5/1/2008 @ 23:38:18 GMTNobel Winner Slams Rising ExecutionsNobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi's rights group slammed the rising number of executions in Iran, including the hanging of a young mother who murdered her husband. "The Defenders of Human Rights Centre denounces the nationwide executions and their upward trend," the group of human rights lawyers led by Ms Ebadi said. more By The Australian

Posted 5/1/2008 @ 23:31:4 GMTIranians Register for ElectionsTEHRAN, Iran -- Close to 400 people registered as candidates Saturday for Iranian parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. more By The Associated Press

Posted 5/1/2008 @ 23:17:59 GMTBush Says Mideast Visit to Promote Peace, Corral IranWASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W Bush said Saturday that his trip to the Middle East next week aimed to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians and curtail Iran's "aggressive ambitions." more By AFP

Posted 5/1/2008 @ 19:49:43 GMTIranian Bank Shrugs Off Cost of US SanctionsUnilateral sanctions by the US have cost Iran’s Bank Saderat a third of its foreign partners but its overseas operations remain profitable, according to the institution’s managing director. By The Financial Times

Posted 5/1/2008 @ 19:46:48 GMTGerman Diplomat Told to Leave Iran in Apparent ExpulsionA German diplomat has been ordered to leave Iran, a German news agency said on Saturday, in what may be retaliation for the expulsion of an Iranian diplomat from Germany in July. By Reuters

Posted 5/1/2008 @ 19:36:24 GMTGuardian's Tehran Correspondent ExpelledThe Guardian's Tehran correspondent, Robert Tait, has been expelled from Iran without explanation after nearly three years of reporting from the country. more By The Guardian

Iran is continuing to supply weapons and personnel to train insurgents in Iraq.

In December, the Pentagon issued a report to Congress titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" stating that Iran is continuing to supply weapons and personnel to train insurgents in Iraq. But now a top U.S. commander in Iraq told The Washington Times that "Iran no longer aids Iraq militants". What is going on? What has changed?
January 3, 2008 : By Sara A. Carter reports that " Iran's leaders are no longer supplying weapons or training to Islamic militants in Iraq ", according to the spokesman for the top U.S. commander in Iraq who told The Washington Times. that Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, sees Iran as following through on assurances it made to Iraqi and U.S. officials last fall not to assist extremists in Iraq, spokesman Col. Steven Boylan said, adding that other U.S. officials have noted declines in Iranian weapons and funds to Iraqi insurgents. "We are ready to confirm the excellence of the senior Iranian leadership in their pledge to stop the funding, training, equipment and resourcing of the militia special groups," Col. Boylan said. "We have seen a downward trend in the signature-type attacks using weapons provided by Iran."
In October, U.S. military officials began noticing a decrease in the supply of Iranian weapons and assistance, Col. Boylan added. The disclosure comes just weeks after a National Intelligence Estimate pruned back its assessment of Iran's nuclear program, saying "with high confidence" that the Islamic republic had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Tehran's aid for Islamic militias in Iraq and its nuclear program have resulted in calls from some in Washington for military action against Iran, and these two developments are likely to dampen such calls. Some outside analysts have argued, though, that Iran-based aid may be getting to Iraqi insurgents without the approval of the government in Tehran. But the colonel cautioned that while Iran's efforts are promising, U.S. military officials remain wary, partly over some contrary events on the ground in Iraq. For example, he disclosed that U.S. troops "recently captured individuals who have been in Iran, training, as short as 45-60 days ago." He did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the captured individuals or the possible investigation. "We are very much in the wait-and-see mode to see what happens," Col. Boylan said. In July, four terrorists linked to an Iranian smuggling operation — responsible for targeting coalition forces with powerful bombs — were captured in Iraq. The confirmation of Iran's cooperation also comes at a time when U.S. military officials have confirmed a 60 percent decrease in violence, including improvised explosive device attacks and civilian deaths in Iraq. Last year, U.S. military officials publicly released evidence of links between Iran and insurgents, including weapons, such as improvised explosive devices and mortars, that bore the markings of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The smuggling of deadly explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) — warhead-style weapons that can pierce armor and that have caused the most casualties and damage to U.S. forces — also was traced back to Iran. In December, the Pentagon issued a report to Congress titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" stating that Iran is continuing to supply weapons and personnel to train insurgents in Iraq. It suggested that the recent declines in violence aren't the result of Iran's claims that it has squelched involvement in Iraq but to other factors, such as the troop surge. "There has been no identified decrease in Iranian training and funding of illegal Shi'a militias in Iraq," the report stated. "Tehran's support for Shi'a militant groups who attack Coalition and Iraq forces remains a significant impediment to progress toward stabilization." Army Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a Pentagon spokesman, said the words from Gen. Petraeus' office on Iran's cutting aid don't contradict the Department of Defense Iraq report, because it was based on information obtained prior to the end of the November deadline. "The report we issued to Congress is meant to be retrospective in nature," Col. Ballesteros said. "It is meant to cover the last 90 days of data and provides a snapshot of that period on the ground." Col. Boylan stated that despite Iran's current cooperation, Islamic radicals and terrorist groups still pose a serious danger to stability in the region.

Rice and Gates Divided over Iran's Role in Iraq : Analysis by Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (IPS) - A State Department official's assertion in late December that Iran had exerted a restraining influence on Iraqi Shiite militia violence signaled a major divergence of views between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates over how to portray Iran's role in Iraq.In an interview with the Washington Post published Dec. 23, David Satterfield, a senior advisor to Rice and coordinator for Iraq, attributed to Iran a deliberate decision to help calm the situation in Iraq rather than to inflame it. Satterfield told the Washington Post that the decline in the number of attacks by Mahdi Army militiamen since August "has to be attributed to an Iranian policy decision" and suggested that the policy decision had been made "at the most senior level". Satterfield did not say that the new Iranian policy line was permanent, but he insisted that there had been such a "consistent and sustained diminution in certain kinds of violence by certain kinds of folks" that it could not be explained solely on the basis of internal factors in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker also told the Post that "the freeze on JAM [the Iraqi acronym for the Mahdi Army] operations that began four months ago would not exist without Iranian approval". Those positive descriptions of the recent Iranian role in Iraq came just after Defence Secretary Gates had refused to endorse such an assessment. At a press conference on Dec. 21, Gates was asked whether he had "seen any additional or more current information to suggest maybe Iran is playing a more constructive role in trying to seal its border from arms shipments and so on?" He replied, "No, not yet." Significantly, however, Gates also passed up the opportunity to say that Iran was playing a "destabilising role" in Iraq. Instead he said simply that the "jury is out" on the issue. Gates mentioned the success of military operations against the Mahdi Army as well as the "ceasefire that has been put in place" as factors in the decline in attacks and said, "[W]e don't have a good feeling...or any confidence in terms of how to weigh these different things." These differing views on whether Iran has been playing a positive role in Iraq are the first clear evidence of a split between Gates and Rice over how to deal with Iran. Rice's State Department is now leaning toward treating Iran as something other than an outright enemy in regard to Iraq, whereas Gates is not ready to soften the administration's position of casting suspicion on Iranian intentions. Gates was the last administration official to denounce Iran in harsh terms over Iraq, declaring in a speech at a Persian Gulf security conference in Bahrain Dec. 8, "Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos, no matter the strategic value or cost in the blood of innocents." That rhetoric was almost certainly aimed, however, at avoiding a stampede away from the administration's efforts to pressure Iran on its uranium enrichment programme in the wake of the stunning publication of the national intelligence estimate's conclusion that Iran had abandoned covert nuclear weapons work in 2003.
Gates hinted in comments to reporters when he arrived in Bahrain that he was much less certain of the Iranian intention than his rhetoric at the conference would have suggested. He mentioned the call by Shiite Mahdi Army leader Muqtada al-Sadr for a ceasefire as a key factor in the improved security in the Baghdad area, along with the reduction in attacks by armour-piercing rounds which had long been blamed on Iran. Gates appeared to suggest that he did not rule out an Iranian contribution to the improvement, saying it was "too early to tell" whether the reduction in militia attacks since August was due to successful military efforts to disrupt Mahdi Army networks or "what the Iranians may or may not be doing". The State Department's decision to acknowledge that Iran has contributed to the reduction in violence in Iraq has no doubt been influenced by Iranian political figures and officials who work closely with the U.S. Embassy to oppose the Mahdi Army and who have been insisting for months that Iran was helping to restrain Sadr. Iraqi Islamic Council Chairman Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, whose party is the key Shiite political ally in the U.S. effort to weaken the Madhi Army, met with Rice Nov. 30 and told her that Iran plays a positive role in establishing security in Iraq, according to the Tehran Times. Al-Hakim was quoted as saying, "There are documents proving that Iran has supported Iraq." Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who had argued both publicly and privately last fall that Iran was behind Sadr's Aug. 29 ceasefire, met with Rice two days before the Satterfield and Crocker interviews. The implication of the advice of the anti-Sadr, pro-Iranian Iraqis is that the United States can use Iran to further weaken Sadr and the Madhi Army. The State Department strategy recognises that the Madhi Army, which poses the main threat to the George W. Bush administration's plan to maintain an indefinite U.S. military presence in the country, is too strong to be suppressed by U.S. or Iraqi military forces. And it would seek an end to the accusations against Iran regarding Iraqi Shiite militias that have been issued regularly by U.S. civilian and military officials throughout 2007. Crocker told the Post he was prepared to make the inference of a helpful Iranian role in the reduction of operations by the Shiite militias when he meets with Iran in the next round of talks. The Defence Department's view of Iranian policy is influenced primarily by the perspective of the U.S. military command in Baghdad. Gen. David Petraeus also recognises that there must be a political strategy to weaken Sadr's forces. However, he and his staff have been focusing more on the fact that the Madhi Army is continuing to attack U.S. and Iraqi security forces in the Shiite provinces of Qadisiyah, Babil and Dhi Qar, as stated in the latest Pentagon report. The military command continues to insists that the "Shi'a extremists and rogue elements" of the Mahdi Army are "Iranian-backed". That analysis clearly implies that the United States should not back away from the accusations of Iranian export of weapons to and manipulation of Shiite militias that the U.S. command has been making for nearly a year. Given President Bush's penchant for letting agencies with conflicting policies work things out themselves rather than impose a policy decision, the State and Defence Departments may continue to carry out their own policy lines on the subject of Iran's role in Iraq until a new development resolves the differences. That will introduce another layer of contradictions into an extraordinarily murky policy toward the Iran-Iraq complex of issues. *Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. His latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in June 2005.

AND HERE COMES THE DENIAL ....

Petraeus Aide Denies Report That Iran Is Not Aiding Iraq Militants
January 03, 2008 Fox News foxnews.com
A spokesman for Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, denied a story published Thursday in the Washington Times that said Petraeus believed Iran no longer was training or supplying weapons to Islamic militants in Iraq. Col. Steven Boylan told FOX News that the article, purported to include quotes from Petraeus and Boylan, "is inaccurate." "We do not know if there has been a decrease in the supply of Iranian weapons," Boylan wrote to news outlets that picked up the Washington Times story. "It is not clear if Iran's leaders stopped supplying weapons or training to extremist elements in Iraq. We hope that they have, but until we can confirm it, we are in the wait and see mode. "We have seen a decrease in the attacks using four specific types of Iranian weapons. However, this should not be misunderstood as anything other than lowered levels of attacks using these specific weapons," he wrote. The Times story included what it said was a quote from Boylan, saying, "We are ready to confirm the excellence of the senior Iranian leadership in their pledge to stop the funding, training, equipment and resourcing of the militia special groups. "We have seen a downward trend in the signature-type attacks using weapons provided by Iran." Click here to view the full report in The Washington Times. Several weeks ago the National Intelligence Estimate said that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.