Iran suspected of limiting insurgent aid

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Iranian officials have begun limiting the amount of supplies they have allegedly been giving to Iraqi insurgents, a U.S. general says.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, a Pentagon official in charge of combating roadside bombs, said Iran has significantly limited the supply flow into Iraq where the goods are used to create the potentially deadly weaponry, the Voice of America said Friday.

Metz said the decline in available supplies is apparent in a sudden decline in the appearance of powerful roadside bombs, also known as Explosively Formed Penetrators, in Iraq.

The U.S. military official said during the last few months, the nearly 80 roadside bombs used or discovered in Iraq each month has fallen to less than 20.

The Voice of America said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh appeared to support such altered international relations, detailing changes in negotiations between Iran and Iraq.

"I think the personal relations formed between the prime minister and the supreme leader, with the commitment of the supreme leader of Iran that he is going to work not to allow (Iranian forces) to destabilize this (Iraqi) government, this also helped," Dabbagh said, referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.