Iran or Hezbollah involved in Iraq, says Blair
From Saira Ilyas

LONDON—Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that new explosive devices used against coalition forces in Iraq “lead us either to Iranian elements or to Hezbollah”.
While stressing that “we cannot be sure” about Iran’s possible role, the British leader linked the issue to the diplomatic confrontation between Tehran and Western nations over Iran’s nuclear program. “There is no justification for Iran or any other country interfering in Iraq,” Blair said. “Neither will we be subject to any intimidation in raising the necessary and live issues to do with the nuclear weapons obligations of Iran under the (International) Atomic Energy Agency treaty”.
Speaking at a news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Blair appeared to back away slightly from accusations against Iran made Wednesday by a senior British official. “We know that the devices are of a similar nature to those used by Hezbollah, and there are certain pieces of information that lead us back to Iran,” Blair said. “But I’m not saying any more than that — we cannot be sure of this”. “What is clear is that there have been new explosive devices used, not just against British troops but elsewhere in Iraq,” Blair added. “The particular nature of those devices lead us either to Iranian elements or to Hezbollah, because they are similar to the devices used by Hezbollah,” the Lebanese group which is backed by both Syria and Iran. In Beirut, a Hezbollah spokesman declined to comment immediately on Blair’s remarks, saying the organization would issue a statement later Thursday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are believed to have provided training, equipment and money to Hezbollah. In Lebanon, Hezbollah focuses on fighting against Israel, but the group also more broadly shares the Revolutionary Guard’s anti-U.S. rhetoric and goal of promoting Islamic theocracy. Tehran is estimated to provide Hezbollah with $10 million-$20 million monthly.
Talabani said he was “very concerned” about the reports but added that further investigation was needed to determine the source of attacks in southern Iraq. Iran “categorically denied the strange accusation,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Thursday.
The agency said the Iranian Embassy in London “stressed that Iran has always maintained a status against aggressive moves in Iraq.” The government of Shiite-majority Iran is extremely supportive of Iraq’s Shiite-led government, but many U.S. and Western officials have long believed that rogue elements in Iran, including shadowy groups affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, could be backing different factions in Iraq’s internal power struggles.
And some in Iran — which opposes the U.S. and British presence in Iraq — might have an interest in supporting a Sunni-led insurgency attacking American and British troops. A senior British official first made the accusation against Iran at a Wednesday briefing, saying Britain believes the Revolutionary Guard is supplying explosives technology that has killed eight British soldiers in incidents over the summer.
The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said there was evidence that Iran was in contact with Sunni Muslim insurgent groups battling coalition troops in Iraq. He did not specify whether the alleged Iranian technology was also responsible for American soldiers’ deaths. Hezbollah was formed in 1982 with Iranian backing during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. It has been linked to the 1983 bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon.