Petraeus says Iran backing militants in Iraq and Afghanistan

Washington, 17 December (WashingtonTV)—The United States’ top commander in the Middle East said on Wednesday that Iran was still backing Shiite militants in Iraq and giving a “modest level” of support to the Taliban in Afghanistan.


General David Petraeus told ABC News that there were “daily attacks” in Iraq with “weapons only made by Iran”.


“Iran continues to fund, train, equip and give some direction to the residual Shiite militias and extremists elements in Iraq,” he said.


Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, said Iran was also aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, despite animosity between Shiite Iran and the Sunni militants in Afghanistan.


“Iran provides a modest level of equipment, explosives and perhaps some funding to the Taliban in western Afghanistan,” he told ABC News.


Petraeus said he did not believe Iran wants the Taliban to succeed, but also does not want the United States to succeed in Afghanistan “too easily”.


In the early days of the Afghan invasion, Tehran and Washington cooperated in replacing the Taliban government and forming a new government and constitution for Kabul.


Petraeus said that cooperation between Iran and the United States in stabilizing Afghanistan was still “conceivable”, but that Tehran “has a hard time getting past the fact that we’re part of the effort.”


Iran has repeatedly rejected US accusations of supporting militants in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has said the presence of US troops in those countries is to blame for regional instability.


Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday criticized NATO’s policies in Afghanistan as “wrong”, saying the security situation has worsened and terrorism and drug trafficking there have increased, according to the official IRNA news agency.


Petraeus said he did not believe Iran wanted to get into a fight with the United States, and was instead using “proxy elements” to hamper US efforts in the region.


Asked about a possible US military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Petraeus said the consequences of such action were “in some respects incalculable”.


“No one really knows what the outcome would be, no one knows how much damage could be done to Iran, how much that could set back the nuclear program,” he said.


Sources:televisionwashington.com/