U.S. Forces Reportedly Raid Iranian Consulate In Iraq

(RFE/RL) January 11, 2007 -- Iraq state television reported today that U.S. troops raided the Iranian Consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil and arrested several Iranian officials, although a subsequent denial from the United States brought that report into question.

The report was followed by a new warning from the U.S. military regarding suspicions of weapons flows from Iran to Iraq, highlighting tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian news agency IRNA today confirmed the Irbil raid, saying U.S. troops arrested five Iranian officials at the consulate in the Kurdish region and confiscated documents and computers.

IRNA also reported that the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad has handed over a note of protest to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry criticizing what Iran is calling the "illegal move" and demanding the immediate release of the arrested consulate staff.

But AFP later quoted Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman as denying that the raid in Irbil was conducted on an Iranian consulate or government building.

Later, a White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, declined to comment specifically on the operation. But Johndroe said the United States has made it clear that "if we get information that is actionable that the Iranians are interfering with Iraq, with Iraqis, or in any way going to harm Americans, that we're going to take action."

U.S. Brass Says Iranians Feeding Iraq Violence

The top military adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush has repeated U.S. accusations that Iranians are supplying weapons to feed the violence in Iraq.

General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that the United States will do everything it takes to counter such activities.

"It is clear that the Iranians are complicit in providing weapons, and it is also clear that we will do all we need to do to defend our troops in Iraq by going after the entire network, regardless of where those people come from," Pace warned.

Pace was speaking at a televised news conference alongside Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Iranian officials have dismissed past suggestions that they are supplying weapons to the Iraqi insurgency.

U.S. and U.K. officials have repeatedly pointed to the discovery of Iranian arms in Iraq.

Tehran has enjoyed close ties with leaders among Iraq's Shi'ite community, many of whom sought haven in neighboring Iraq under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led government.

(IRNA, Reuters, AFP)