Admiral Mike Mullen <\/a>said Iran had made a decision to curtail its support for Shiite factions in 2008 but has now increased its activity in Iraq, sending in lethal arms that were being used against American forces.<\/p>\n“Iran is very directly supporting extremist troops which are killing our troops,” Mullen told reporters at a Pentagon Press Association luncheon.<\/p>\n
The Iranian shipments are “significant and improved,” said the admiral, including a makeshift rocket launching system, known as an improvised rocket assisted mortar (IRAM), and armor-piercing shaped charges, or explosively formed projectile (EFP).<\/p>\n
“They are shipping high-tech weapons in there, IRAMs, EFPs, which are killing our people. And the forensics prove that,” he said.<\/p>\n
As the United States and Iraq negotiate a possible follow-on US force that would stay beyond a December 31 deadline, Mullen said any future security deal with Baghdad would have to take into account the threat posed by neighboring Iran.<\/p>\n
“If we reach an agreement (on US troops remaining in Iraq)… it has to be done in conjunction with control of Iran in that regard,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mullen also said the arms were flowing into Iraq with the full knowledge of Iran’s leadership.<\/p>\n
“I would say they know about it,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was no question that Iran was trying to exert influence in Iraq, especially in the country’s south.<\/p>\n
His comments echoed the US ambassador in Baghdad, James Jeffrey, who said last week that insurgent Shiite groups beholden to Iran posed a threat to Iraq’s stability.<\/p>\n
US forces last month suffered their worst casualties in three years with 14 soldiers killed, most in rocket attacks.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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AFP \u2014 Iran is stepping up its support for Shiite militants in Iraq, supplying them with more sophisticated weapons, the top US military officer said Thursday.<\/p>\n