There have been new explosive devices used against British troops and elsewhere,” Blair said. “The particular nature of those devices leads us to either Iranian elements or Hezbollah that is funded and supported by Iran. .
A senior U.K. diplomat, who requested anonymity, made the accusations in London yesterday, saying Iran and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, were behind armor-piercing explosives used to kill British troops in Iraq’s Shia-dominated south, Agence France-Presse said. While the U.K. has hinted at a link between Iran and violence in Iraq before, this is first time specific allegations, which Iran denied, have been made.
Infra-Red Beam
The type of bombs used in those attacks were similar to the ones favored by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who provided the technology to a Shiite Muslim group in southern Iraq, the British official said, according to AFP.
The devices are almost impossible to detect or stop, unlike the crude, home-made bombs used by militants in the early stages of the insurgency. They’re triggered when a vehicle touches an invisible, infra-red beam and release a metal projectile capable of penetrating most of the armor-plating used by the army.
“We are very much concerned and worried about the news” that Iran may be linked to the Iraqi insurgency, Talabani said. “ I talked to some Iranian brothers and they deny it. We need more investigations.”
The President added that Iraq wants “to see an end to the presence of multinational forces but the action of the terrorist are keeping them there.”
A pullout “would be a catastrophic to the people of Iraq and the cause of democracy, and would be a win for the terrorists,” Talabani said. “A timetable will only help” the insurgents, he added.
