Petraeus: Iran’s Iraq Ambassador Is Quds Force Terrorist

From: Pat Dollard

Agencies:

The top US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has accused Iran’s ambassador, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi of being a member of an elite unit of Iran’s Republican Guard. Washington accuses the force, the elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, of inciting bloodshed in Iraq and of training and equipping militias who have attacked U.S. troops.

Gen Petraeus said he had no doubt Iran was behind attacks that had led to the deaths of US soldiers.

“There is no question about the connection between Iran and these components, (the) attacks that have killed our soldiers.”

“There’s no question, absolutely no question that Iran is providing advanced RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], RPG 29s,” Petraeus said.

“It has provided some shoulder-fired, Stinger-like air-defense missiles. It has provided the explosively formed projectiles and it has provided 244 mm rockets, in addition to mortars, mortar rounds and other small-arms ammunition.”

Gen Petraeus said: “There should be no question about the malign, lethal involvement and activities of the Quds Force in this country.”

He said Iran was “responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers”.

Gen Petraeus made his comments during a briefing to journalists at a US military base near Iraq’s border with Iran.

Gen Petraeus said the Iranian ambassador to Iraq was a “Quds Force member”, but added: “Now he has diplomatic immunity and therefore he is obviously not subject [to scrutiny]. He is acting as a diplomat.”

Mr Kazemi-Qomi has twice met US counterpart Ryan Crocker this year to discuss Iraqi stability.

Iran admits the existence of the Quds Force but gives few details of its activities. Analysts believe it is behind funding of such groups as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Gen Petraeus said Iran was implicated in the car-bomb assassinations of two provincial governors in southern Iraq in August.

Gen. Petraeus said the Iranian ambassador has given his Iraqi counterpart assurances Iran would stop the supplying and training of insurgents.

“They had two sessions,” he said. “Numerous Iraqi leaders have gone to Tehran and asked that they stop very, very directly, stop the lethal assistance. There have been sub-ambassadorial meetings as well. And there have been assurances in return actually from Iran to Iraqi leaders and we are waiting to see if those assurances bear fruit or not frankly. We are very much in the show-me mode right now. We would love to see that.”

Petraeus reiterated that Iranians detained by the United State recently in northern Iraq are Quds Force members. One of them was arrested recently in Sulaimaniya and five others were arrested in Irbil.

The Iranian embassy in Baghdad had no immediate comment.

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