Iran tied more tightly to weapons in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. general in Iraq Friday strongly and specifically linked weapons showing up in the hands of Iraqi insurgents to neighboring Iran and its elite forces.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Multinational Division-Center and the 3rd Infantry Division, talked with reporters at the Pentagon via teleconference. Lynch's Task Force Marne has been charged with "securing the areas south and east of Baghdad and stopping the flow of weapons and violence through those areas."

Lynch said the operation has been helped greatly by Sunni and Shiite civilians setting up checkpoints and providing intelligence.

"We see Iranian activity through our area in three levels," Lynch said. "First, U.S. soldiers are coming under attack from deadly weapons originating from Iran … Iranian rockets and Iranian-manufactured components for explosively formed projectiles."

Second, he added, some Shiite militants are being trained by Iran to use those weapons "and then they're passing that training on to others inside of Iraq."

Third, "we believe that members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps are facilitating training as well as transfer of weapons and munitions," Lynch said, adding "there are 50 or so Iranian and Iraqi operatives working for Iran in our area, about 20 of which … we are actively targeting."

The Iranians aren’t just helping their fellow Shiites, Lynch said.

"One way or another, Sunni militants are also getting their hands on this Iranian technology," he added. "Whether that's a direct hand-off or black-market activity, we don't know, but both sides" -- Sunni and Shiites -- "have it and are using that technology to kill Americans and Iraqis and that's got to stop.