Posted on 05/04/2008 3:22:38 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
TEHRAN, May 4 (Reuters) - Iran backs efforts by the Iraqi government to disarm militiamen, an Iranian news agency said on Sunday, after Baghdad said a delegation was sent to Tehran last week to urge it to stop supporting Shi'ite militias.
The delegation from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) travelled to Iran after fresh U.S. accusations that Iranian-made weapons were found in Iraq.
Iran confirmed discussions took place with the visiting Iraqi delegation to help end fighting in its neighbour. Tehran has in the past denied supporting militias loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"We support the Iraqi government's efforts to disarm militiamen but we also advise (it) to avoid confronting people," ISNA news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.
The official said Tehran would continue to support the Iraqi government and "make its utmost efforts to establish security in Iraq".
His comments were in line with those of the head of the Iraqi delegation, who said on Saturday after returning from Tehran that Iran supports the Iraqi government in its fight against militants.
Washington accuses Tehran of trying to destabilise Iraq by funding, training and providing weapons to Iraqi militias. Iran denies this and blames the U.S. troop presence for the violence.
Iran and Iraq, both mainly Shi'ite Muslim countries, fought a 1980-88 war that killed about one million people but relations have improved since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iran's influence in Iraq has also increased.
Maliki launched a crackdown on Sadr's militia in late March that met fierce resistance from well-armed fighters, and he says he is determined to disarm them.
An Iraqi security spokesman said last week that Iraq had seized Iranian-made missiles and heavy weapons in the last four weeks in the capital.
U.S. officials say they have collected proof of Iranian weapons that have arrived recently in Iraq, but were holding off making a public display of their evidence so that Iraqis could make their own case to Iran first.
Analysts say Tehran wants to keep a friendly, Shi'ite-led government in charge but wants to ensure rival Iraqi Shi'ite factions look to Iran as a power broker. They also say Iran wants to make sure U.S. troops do not get an easy ride in Iraq.
Tehran and Washington are also at loggerheads over Iran's disputed nuclear work, which the West fears is a disguised attempt to build atomic bombs. Iran says its plans are peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.
Washington has not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails. (Writing by Zahra Hosseinian; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
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"We support the Iraqi government's efforts to disarm militiamen but we also advise (it) to avoid confronting people," ISNA news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.
Yadda yadda blabla. In other words: "We let our goons lie low, if you won't molest them... so we can let them loose at a later point with better circumstances for us."
Iran wants to disarm Iraq because they are banking on a US troop pullout in the next year and want to make any military campaign that much easier.
Let me see if I can translate this into muzzie-speak:
We applaud the deaths of the brave warriors for allah whom we have supplied with weapons, because they are fighting for the liberation of Iraq from the evil oppressor-occupier, the US and the Western forces of Shaitan. A glorious martyrdom awaits them. BUT any interference in the enforcement of sharia by the forces of THE PROMOTION OF VIRTUE AND PREVENTION OF VICE will not be tolerated.
LIBERATE IRAQ! SHARIA FOR EVERYONE!
We have a winnner...Johnny, tell him what he’s won!
You are right on the money...No Saddam, chaotic country = easy win for Iran and we’ll be back in Iraq so fast the world won’t even know what happened...WW 3, 4, 5 or whatever you want to call it WILL happen after we withdraw, IF we withdraw...
I read the Jerusalem Post every day. Israel is getting closer to bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities. Latest comment from Barak is they will go it alone and take out those facilities. That should put a damper on Iran meddling in Iraq. Hope Israel does it soon.
Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ght.
Well, if they said so, it must be true. At least, the Democrats will believe it.
Some U.S. technical assistance may be useful, but for 5 years we have been telling the Iraqis how to construct a political and legal system, how to elect their leaders, who should occupy which cabinet posts, who should be their prime minister, how to develop and allocate their resoureces, how to organize and regulate their economy.
Stop! Iraqis know far better than we what makes sense for them. When administration officials and members of Congress, with their advisors -- whose knowledge of Iraq is often very recent, shallow, and wrong -- hector and lecture the Iraqis who are struggling to find a way forward, it becomes readily apparent that the Bushies have learned nothing from their past blunders.
Iran's nuclear what facilities???
All news I have seen indicates Iran is only planning nuclear POWER facilities. They are more than 5 years away from having the types of uranium hexafluoride centrifuges necessary to enrich uranium to the extent needed to produce a simple nuclear weapon, and they don't have any of the rockets capable of delivering such a weapon.
Israel would be foolish to expend jet fuel on a bombing mission to Iran. Only neocon hysteria could lead them to such a fool's mission. If Israel would dare undertake such a mission, they would lose face in the world even worse than the U.S. suffered after Bush's counterproductive occupation of Iran's neighbor.
Whoa!
MurryMom disagrees with Nancy Pelosi!
Stop the presses!!!
It's always good to have a reminder right in front of us regarding the views of the loony Leftists....
Been that way for hundreds of years....
we also advise (it) to avoid confronting people[suggested response] "We support the efforts of the Iranian people to institute a representative form of self-government by peaceful means, but also advise them to kill all the mullahs and members of the so-called Revolutionary Guard."
Iraq says to document Iran "interference"
have addeded an update from Washington Post....
*********************EXCERPT*******************
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh called reporters late Sunday night to clarify remarks he made at a news conference earlier in the day, when he appeared to say that there was no hard evidence that Iran was allowing weapons to come into Iraq. Dabbagh said his comments had been misinterpreted.
"There is an interference and evidence that they have interfered in Iraqi affairs," Dabbagh said in an interview arranged by a U.S. official. When asked how he would characterize the proof that Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq, he said: "It is a concrete evidence."
By my counting they already did a similar thing against Syria. Which is interesting, as they supposedly are talking about a peace accord and returning the Golan Heights. I guess there off the cards now then...
You do not have any say about how Iraq governs itself. Iraq is a separate, sovereign and FREE nation, unlike yours.
Get out of there or face the consequences.
Hard to argue with that statement. Err... less the big black limos of course, heheh.
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