The US has presented what it calls "a growing body" of evidence that Iranian weapons were being used against its soldiers. The accusations were made on Sunday as Iran's foreign ministry said the US was complicit in the kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat. A senior US defence official told reporters on Sunday that 170 soldiers had been killed by advanced roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs). He said the weapons were made in Iran and then smuggled into Iraq.
US officials have previously said that Iran is fanning the violence in Iraq by giving sophisticated bomb-making technology, money and training to Shia groups who are attacking US and British troops. Tehran has denied the charges. In Baghdad, journalists were shown fragments of what the US official said were Iranian-made weapons, including one part of a penetrator and tail fins from 81-mm and 60-mm mortar bombs. The official said: "The weapons had characteristics unique to being manufactured in Iran ... Iran is the only country in the region that produces these weapons." |