DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./U.K./IRAQ/IRAN/AFGHANISTAN: THE FLOW OF IRANIAN WEAPONS HAS INCREASED TO AFGHANISTAN & IRAQ

Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups
By Robin Wright

Iran has increased arms shipments to both Iraq's Shiite extremists and Afghanistan's Taliban in recent weeks in an apparent attempt to pressure American and other Western troops operating in its two strategic neighbors, according to senior U.S. and European officials.

In Iraq, Iranian 240mm rockets, which have a range of up to 30 miles and could significantly change the battlefield, have been used recently by Shiite extremists against U.S. and British targets in Basra and Baghdad, the officials said. Three of the rockets have targeted U.S. facilities in Baghdad's Green Zone, and one came very close to hitting the U.S. Embassy in the Iraqi capital, according to the U.S. officials.

The 240mm rocket is the biggest and longest-range weapon in the hands of Shiite extremist groups, U.S. officials said. Remnants of the rockets bear the markings of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and are dated 2007, those sources said. The Tehran government has supplied the same weapon, known as the Fajr-3, to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia.

In Afghanistan, British forces have intercepted at least two arms shipments from Iran to Afghanistan's Helmand province since late April, the officials said. Such shipments reflect an unlikely liaison between two historic rivals, the Shiite theocrats in Iran and the Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan, they said.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups