Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Iran denies Revolutionary Guards working in Iraq
Region
(AFP) - Iran denied yesterday US accusations that a unit of its Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, was working inside Iraq to foment more unrest in its conflict-torn neighbour."Their statements are unreal and unwise," national security chief Ali Larijani was quoted as saying by the ISNA student news agency. A top US general on Sunday charged that around 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are inside Iraq and training Shiite extremists to launch attacks on US and Iraqi security forces.
Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said that members of the Quds Force have set up base in Babil, Karbala and Najaf provinces and the southern outskirts of the capital. "If there are 50 members of the Quds force in Iraq, give the names of five of them," challenged Larijani. "Some people say arms with 'made in Iran' written onto them have entered Iraq from Iran. It is obvious that these statements are wrong," he added.
The US military has regularly accused the Quds Force of training Iraqi militants in the use of rockets and explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- fist-sized bombs capable of slicing through heavy armour -- but Lynch's comments were first claims that they are operating inside Iraq. The Quds Force is the covert operations unit of the Guards -- which the White House is seeking to blacklist as terrorist group. The United States accuses Shiite-majority Iran of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq. Iran denies the allegation and blames the US-led occupation for Iraq's insecurity.
Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said that members of the Quds Force have set up base in Babil, Karbala and Najaf provinces and the southern outskirts of the capital. "If there are 50 members of the Quds force in Iraq, give the names of five of them," challenged Larijani. "Some people say arms with 'made in Iran' written onto them have entered Iraq from Iran. It is obvious that these statements are wrong," he added.
The US military has regularly accused the Quds Force of training Iraqi militants in the use of rockets and explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- fist-sized bombs capable of slicing through heavy armour -- but Lynch's comments were first claims that they are operating inside Iraq. The Quds Force is the covert operations unit of the Guards -- which the White House is seeking to blacklist as terrorist group. The United States accuses Shiite-majority Iran of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq. Iran denies the allegation and blames the US-led occupation for Iraq's insecurity.
Labels: Ali Larijani, EFPs, Iran, Iraq, Major General Rick Lynch, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards, Shiite militias, southern Iraq
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
leaflets warn villagers of Iranian offensive against Kurdish rebels
Region
(Reuters) - Kurdish authorities in northeastern Iraq said on Tuesday they were investigating the authenticity of leaflets warning villagers to evacuate ahead of an Iranian military offensive against Kurdish rebels. Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes in Iraq's mountainous northeast while others hid in caves after what local authorities said was days of intermittent shelling by Iran across the border.
So far there has been no official comment from either Tehran or Baghdad about the shelling. Cross-border skirmishes occasionally occur as Iraq's neighbours Turkey and Iran combat Kurdish separatist rebels operating from bases in Iraq's mountainous and remote north and northeast. The government of Iraq's largely autonomous region of Kurdistan said it was investigating after villagers said they had seen the leaflets thrown from helicopters on Monday.
Residents said there were no identifying marks on the leaflets, written in Kurdish, apart from the words "The Islamic Republic of Iran" across the top and bottom. The leaflets said villagers had 48 hours to evacuate before an Iranian offensive began. "They do not carry an official stamp of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian Defence Ministry," said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish government.
"These leaflets made many people leave their homes."
The leaflets said the offensive would be around the villages of Qandoul, Haj Omran and Isaw and the town of Qal'at Dizah, 325 km (200 miles) north of Baghdad. Two women have been wounded, livestock killed, farms and orchards set ablaze and homes damaged in the shelling near small villages across a front of about 50 km (30 miles), local officials have said in the past three days.
On Saturday, the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed near the border of northern Iraq had been engaged in an operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since 1984, when it launched its struggle for an ethnic homeland in Turkey's southeast.
So far there has been no official comment from either Tehran or Baghdad about the shelling. Cross-border skirmishes occasionally occur as Iraq's neighbours Turkey and Iran combat Kurdish separatist rebels operating from bases in Iraq's mountainous and remote north and northeast. The government of Iraq's largely autonomous region of Kurdistan said it was investigating after villagers said they had seen the leaflets thrown from helicopters on Monday.
Residents said there were no identifying marks on the leaflets, written in Kurdish, apart from the words "The Islamic Republic of Iran" across the top and bottom. The leaflets said villagers had 48 hours to evacuate before an Iranian offensive began. "They do not carry an official stamp of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian Defence Ministry," said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Kurdish government.
"These leaflets made many people leave their homes."
The leaflets said the offensive would be around the villages of Qandoul, Haj Omran and Isaw and the town of Qal'at Dizah, 325 km (200 miles) north of Baghdad. Two women have been wounded, livestock killed, farms and orchards set ablaze and homes damaged in the shelling near small villages across a front of about 50 km (30 miles), local officials have said in the past three days.
On Saturday, the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed near the border of northern Iraq had been engaged in an operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since 1984, when it launched its struggle for an ethnic homeland in Turkey's southeast.
Labels: Haj Omran, Iran, Isaw, KRG, PJAK, PKK, Qandoul, Revolutionary Guards
Monday, August 20, 2007
Kurdish officials concerned as fierce clashes escalate between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces
Security
(The Guardian) - Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
"If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
"If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."
Labels: Biryar Gabar, IDPs, Iran, Jabar Yawar, KRG, Kurdistan, Kurdistan Free Life Party, PJAK, Qandil mountains, Revolutionary Guards
Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Shiite militias in s. Iraq
Security
(Gulf News) - About 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are believed to be training Shiite militias in the use of mortars and rockets in southern Iraq, the general commanding US troops in the area said on Sunday. "We are concerned primarily about the training of Shiite extremists. We think there are about 50 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards," Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces south of Baghdad, told reporters.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more accurate and more effective". Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed caches of weapons it says are from Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed penetrators". At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias in Iraq. Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in Iraq.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more accurate and more effective". Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed caches of weapons it says are from Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed penetrators". At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias in Iraq. Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in Iraq.
COMMENT: The U.S. has been threatening to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Force (RGF) a specially designated global terrorist group. This is not only likely to enrage Iran but will also give the U.S. more scope to pursue members of the RGF for illicit activites. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, EFPs, indirect fire attacks, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards, Ryan Crocker, Shiite militias, southern Iraq
Thursday, August 09, 2007
U.S. commander - Iranian explosives undermining security in Iraq
Security
(CNN) -- An increasing number of attacks using an Iranian-based explosive is undermining security in Iraq, a senior U.S. military commander said Wednesday. The attacks come amid a diplomatic push by the United States to encourage Iranians to help improve the security situation in Iraq. Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told CNN that weapons of Iranian origin, such as bombs called explosively formed projectiles, are making their way into Iraq.
There were 99 EFP attacks in Iraq in July -- the most since counting began in December, Odierno said. That type of explosive accounted for one-third of the 79 U.S. troop deaths last month, he said. The military says both parts for the weapons and the weapons themselves are being brought across the border. The United States can't prove that Iran's central government is responsible for providing the weaponry, but officials have been saying for months that such activity is being conducted by Iran's Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force.
Iran officially has denied being involved in promoting insurgent activity, but some U.S. officials think the country's senior leaders must be aware of the activity if the Quds Force is involved. Asked about the EFP numbers, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Wednesday that "we have not yet seen any positive results from the Iranians" and that at future meetings, "we will convey that we have not seen any positive developments."
Odierno said the United States is taking defensive action against the attacks, specifically by targeting Shiite extremist cells in Baghdad. "We continue to go after these EFP networks in Baghdad and all over the country," he said. Additionally, new armored vehicles are being shipped to Iraq. More than 17,000 are needed in Iraq, but right now there are only about 200, the Pentagon says.
Iran -- which says the huge border with Iraq is porous and has acknowledged that smugglers and black marketers do traverse it -- frequently likens the dilemma with problems the United States faces along its vast border with Mexico.
Military officials have said for weeks that they expect as many weapons as possible to be shipped from Iran to Iraq before September, when Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker issue a report about progress there. The thinking is that Iran intends to make it look like the United States is not making any progress.
In addition to the Iranian-based explosives, military elements in Iran are also hurting Iraq's security, Odierno said. Insurgents trained in Iran have been firing rockets and mortars at Baghdad's Green Zone with greater precision, and money from Iran is ending up in the hands of Iraqi insurgents, he said.
All of this comes as a thaw has unfolded between the United States and Iran, which have been meeting in Iraq to discuss security. The ambassadors have met and a subcommittee has been formed to deal with security matters that have popped up. Iraq has spearheaded the effort. Officials have said the United States has made its position about Iranian involvement clear in the meetings, the last of which was Monday. Additionally, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was visiting Iran, where he was discussing security and other matters with officials there.
There were 99 EFP attacks in Iraq in July -- the most since counting began in December, Odierno said. That type of explosive accounted for one-third of the 79 U.S. troop deaths last month, he said. The military says both parts for the weapons and the weapons themselves are being brought across the border. The United States can't prove that Iran's central government is responsible for providing the weaponry, but officials have been saying for months that such activity is being conducted by Iran's Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force.
Iran officially has denied being involved in promoting insurgent activity, but some U.S. officials think the country's senior leaders must be aware of the activity if the Quds Force is involved. Asked about the EFP numbers, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Wednesday that "we have not yet seen any positive results from the Iranians" and that at future meetings, "we will convey that we have not seen any positive developments."
Odierno said the United States is taking defensive action against the attacks, specifically by targeting Shiite extremist cells in Baghdad. "We continue to go after these EFP networks in Baghdad and all over the country," he said. Additionally, new armored vehicles are being shipped to Iraq. More than 17,000 are needed in Iraq, but right now there are only about 200, the Pentagon says.
Iran -- which says the huge border with Iraq is porous and has acknowledged that smugglers and black marketers do traverse it -- frequently likens the dilemma with problems the United States faces along its vast border with Mexico.
Military officials have said for weeks that they expect as many weapons as possible to be shipped from Iran to Iraq before September, when Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker issue a report about progress there. The thinking is that Iran intends to make it look like the United States is not making any progress.
In addition to the Iranian-based explosives, military elements in Iran are also hurting Iraq's security, Odierno said. Insurgents trained in Iran have been firing rockets and mortars at Baghdad's Green Zone with greater precision, and money from Iran is ending up in the hands of Iraqi insurgents, he said.
All of this comes as a thaw has unfolded between the United States and Iran, which have been meeting in Iraq to discuss security. The ambassadors have met and a subcommittee has been formed to deal with security matters that have popped up. Iraq has spearheaded the effort. Officials have said the United States has made its position about Iranian involvement clear in the meetings, the last of which was Monday. Additionally, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was visiting Iran, where he was discussing security and other matters with officials there.
Labels: EFPs, explosively formed projectiles, Green Zone, Iran, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, MRAPS, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards
Friday, July 13, 2007
Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Peshmerga clash near border
Region
(AP) -- Iranian artillery shelled near Iraqi Kurd villages Thursday as Iranian troops clashed with Kurdish guerrillas making an incursion across the border, officials in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan said. It was the third day of shelling in two areas along the border in northern Iraq, said Jabbar Yawer, spokesman for the Kurdistan protection forces, or Peshmerga. Residents of the areas said the bombardment had not caused casualties but had killed farm animals and started a fire on a mountain.
Iranian shelling in the Peshdar region, 60 miles northwest of Sulaimaniyah, hit areas as far as 18 miles from the border, said the regional governor, Hussein Ahmed. He said many of the area's 1,000 families had fled for protection. The other region hit by shelling lay farther north, near the Hajji Umran border crossing, 65 miles north of the city of Irbil, Yawer said. He said the shelling began with an incursion by Kurdish guerrillas into Iran on Tuesday that sparked clashes with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
"We are not with either side, and we will not allow the lands of Iraqi Kurdistan to become a battlefield in which civilians in Kurdish villages are the victims," he said. The Free Life Party is a breakaway faction of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as PKK, which is dominated by Turkish Kurds but also had Iranian Kurd branches. Its fighters have sparked Iranian shelling into Iraq several times over the past two years, most recently in June.
Turkey has increasingly threatened to take action in northern Iraq, complaining that the Kurdistan government and U.S. forces are not doing enough to stop PKK fighters carrying out attacks on Turkish soil.
Iranian shelling in the Peshdar region, 60 miles northwest of Sulaimaniyah, hit areas as far as 18 miles from the border, said the regional governor, Hussein Ahmed. He said many of the area's 1,000 families had fled for protection. The other region hit by shelling lay farther north, near the Hajji Umran border crossing, 65 miles north of the city of Irbil, Yawer said. He said the shelling began with an incursion by Kurdish guerrillas into Iran on Tuesday that sparked clashes with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
"We are not with either side, and we will not allow the lands of Iraqi Kurdistan to become a battlefield in which civilians in Kurdish villages are the victims," he said. The Free Life Party is a breakaway faction of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as PKK, which is dominated by Turkish Kurds but also had Iranian Kurd branches. Its fighters have sparked Iranian shelling into Iraq several times over the past two years, most recently in June.
Turkey has increasingly threatened to take action in northern Iraq, complaining that the Kurdistan government and U.S. forces are not doing enough to stop PKK fighters carrying out attacks on Turkish soil.
Labels: Free Life Party, Iran, Kurdistan protection forces, Peshdar region, Peshmerga, Revolutionary Guards
Friday, May 18, 2007
Detained Iranians may be freed next month
Iran
(Reuters) - Five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq could be freed within the next month, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday. Washington says the five men, detained in January, are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and were backing militants in Iraq.
Iran insists they are diplomats, wants them freed and has requested access. Mottaki said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, who visited Tehran in April, had indicated they could be freed by June 21. "In Mr Zebari's trip, he said that (those detained) will be released in Khordad," Mottaki said, referring to the Iranian month of Khordad, which runs from May 22 to June 21.
Mottaki added that Zebari had said he was quoting U.S. officials in his comments. Mottaki said the five detainees had expressed a wish to meet Iranian consular officials before seeing family members. "Fifteen days ago, it was discussed that the families could meet their arrested loved ones and even some preliminary work was done," Mottaki told reporters in Tehran at a meeting with family members. He did not say who the discussions were with.
"But our colleagues in detention said that we prefer to have a meeting with consulate officials first and then with our families," he said. Mottaki repeated Iran's position that the detention was illegal and said he hoped the men would be released soon. "I told Mr Zebari that even one hour of illegally keeping them in detention is not justified," he said.Iranian family members voiced fears about their detained loves ones during the meeting with Mottaki.
Officials named the other three detained as Bagher Ghabishavi, Moussa Chegini and Abbas Hatami Kasavand. Iranian and U.S. officials are to meet in Iraq on May 28 to discuss security in the country, in a rare face-to-face meeting between the two rivals which have not had diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The five Iranians were detained in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. It is not clear where they are being held, but the U.S. military says they have been visited twice by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Iran insists they are diplomats, wants them freed and has requested access. Mottaki said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, who visited Tehran in April, had indicated they could be freed by June 21. "In Mr Zebari's trip, he said that (those detained) will be released in Khordad," Mottaki said, referring to the Iranian month of Khordad, which runs from May 22 to June 21.
Mottaki added that Zebari had said he was quoting U.S. officials in his comments. Mottaki said the five detainees had expressed a wish to meet Iranian consular officials before seeing family members. "Fifteen days ago, it was discussed that the families could meet their arrested loved ones and even some preliminary work was done," Mottaki told reporters in Tehran at a meeting with family members. He did not say who the discussions were with.
"But our colleagues in detention said that we prefer to have a meeting with consulate officials first and then with our families," he said. Mottaki repeated Iran's position that the detention was illegal and said he hoped the men would be released soon. "I told Mr Zebari that even one hour of illegally keeping them in detention is not justified," he said.Iranian family members voiced fears about their detained loves ones during the meeting with Mottaki.
Officials named the other three detained as Bagher Ghabishavi, Moussa Chegini and Abbas Hatami Kasavand. Iranian and U.S. officials are to meet in Iraq on May 28 to discuss security in the country, in a rare face-to-face meeting between the two rivals which have not had diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The five Iranians were detained in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. It is not clear where they are being held, but the U.S. military says they have been visited twice by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Labels: Abbas Hatami Kasavand, Bagher Ghabishavi, Hoshiyar Zebari, Iran, Iranian detainees, Khordad, Manouchehr Mottaki, Moussa Chegini, Revolutionary Guards
Monday, April 09, 2007
Iran warns of consequences if detained Iranians in Iraq are not released
Security, Iran, U.S.
(Reuters) - Iran has warned neighboring Iraq that its failure to secure the release of five Iranians detained there by U.S. forces could impair Tehran's cooperation with Baghdad, a senior official was quoted on Sunday as saying. Washington says the five men, detained in January in northern Iraq, are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and were backing militants. Iran insists they are diplomats, wants them freed and has requested access.
"We are serious about the way we will confront those behind the arrest of the Iranian diplomats in Iraq," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency, seen as close to the Revolutionary Guards. "On Friday I sent a letter to the Iraqi foreign minister and other officials in Iraq and pointed out that their efforts over the release of the diplomats have had no results and I emphasized that if this situation continues we will have problems in taking other steps to help Iraq," he said.
Mottaki's Iraqi counterpart, Hoshiyar Zebari, said he had not received any letter. He insisted his government was working hard to secure the release of the five. "They know very well that the Iraqi government has done, and is doing, its best to try to facilitate their release. We still have not received any confirmation from the Americans that they will release them. "But we hope that this will not be a reason to disturb our bilateral relations," he told Reuters in Baghdad.
"We are serious about the way we will confront those behind the arrest of the Iranian diplomats in Iraq," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency, seen as close to the Revolutionary Guards. "On Friday I sent a letter to the Iraqi foreign minister and other officials in Iraq and pointed out that their efforts over the release of the diplomats have had no results and I emphasized that if this situation continues we will have problems in taking other steps to help Iraq," he said.
Mottaki's Iraqi counterpart, Hoshiyar Zebari, said he had not received any letter. He insisted his government was working hard to secure the release of the five. "They know very well that the Iraqi government has done, and is doing, its best to try to facilitate their release. We still have not received any confirmation from the Americans that they will release them. "But we hope that this will not be a reason to disturb our bilateral relations," he told Reuters in Baghdad.
The families of five Iranians held for three months in US detention in Iraq met an International Committee of the Red Cross representative on Sunday to ask for news about their health, state media said. Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said earlier that no Iranian official has so far visited the men, who were arrested in northern Iraq in January on accusations of seeking to stir the insurgency. ICRC representatives have seen the detainees twice, and the US has confirmed there were no Iranians among the visiting team.
Labels: Hoshyar Zibari, ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross, Iranian detainees, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, Revolutionary Guards, U.S.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Iran threatens to cross into Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels
Iran, Kurdistan, Security
(Bloomberg) Iran's forces may cross into Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels if the government in Baghdad can't expel the militants from border areas, an Iranian military commander said. "I warn Iraq's Kurdish movements and anti-revolutionary armed insurgents who are linked with foreigners that Iraq's government must oust them from the region," Iran's state-run Mehr News agency quoted Yahya Rahim Safavi, who leads the country's Revolutionary Guards, as saying today.
"Otherwise the Revolutionary Guards, to protect the security of the country and Iranian people, will consider it as their right to chase and neutralize them beyond the borders," Safavi said. The Revolutionary Guards are the military unit most loyal to the Shiite Muslim clerics who control the Iranian government.
Iran's armed forces have regular clashes with Kurdish rebels in the northwest of the country, mainly with members of the Party of Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK. Iranian forces killed three local PJAK chiefs Feb 26., Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. "PJAK, which calls for official recognition for Iranian Kurds, in 2005 reportedly killed at least 120 Iranian soldiers inside Iran," Control Risks, a London-based company advising businesses on investment hazards, said in an e-mailed note to investors today. "The group in 2006 launched attacks from both northern Iraq and Iran that are likely to have caused higher casualties," Control Risks said.
Fourteen Iranian military personnel died when their helicopter crashed last week during an operation against rebels close to the Turkish border, AFP said. Safavi made his comments at a ceremony in West Azerbaijan province to honor the personnel who were killed. PJAK has links with Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Iran and Turkey signed an accord in 2004 to combat the PKK and an armed Iranian opposition group in Iraq called the People's Mujahedeen.
"Otherwise the Revolutionary Guards, to protect the security of the country and Iranian people, will consider it as their right to chase and neutralize them beyond the borders," Safavi said. The Revolutionary Guards are the military unit most loyal to the Shiite Muslim clerics who control the Iranian government.
Iran's armed forces have regular clashes with Kurdish rebels in the northwest of the country, mainly with members of the Party of Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK. Iranian forces killed three local PJAK chiefs Feb 26., Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. "PJAK, which calls for official recognition for Iranian Kurds, in 2005 reportedly killed at least 120 Iranian soldiers inside Iran," Control Risks, a London-based company advising businesses on investment hazards, said in an e-mailed note to investors today. "The group in 2006 launched attacks from both northern Iraq and Iran that are likely to have caused higher casualties," Control Risks said.
Fourteen Iranian military personnel died when their helicopter crashed last week during an operation against rebels close to the Turkish border, AFP said. Safavi made his comments at a ceremony in West Azerbaijan province to honor the personnel who were killed. PJAK has links with Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Iran and Turkey signed an accord in 2004 to combat the PKK and an armed Iranian opposition group in Iraq called the People's Mujahedeen.
Labels: Iran, Kurdistan, People's Mujahedeen, PJAK, PKK, Revolutionary Guards, Yahya Rahim Safavi
