Military: Iranians were destabilizing gov't; Cheney: Iran not welcome in Iraq; Hadley: "We will disrupt"

BAGHDAD, Jan. 14 -- The U.S. military said today that the five Iranian nationals detained on Thursday are connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's al-Qods Force, an organization that is active in arming, training, and funding Middle East militant groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The organization is "attempting to destabilize the government of Iraq and attack Coalition forces," the U.S. military said in a statement.

The military statement came as administration officials in Washington stressed that they are concerned about meddling by Iran in the Iraq conflict and are determined to end such efforts by Tehran.

Vice President Cheney, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said, "I think it's pretty well known that Iran is fishing in troubled waters, if you will, inside Iraq. . . . I think the message that the president sent clearly is that we do not want them doing what they can to try to destabilize the situation inside Iraq. We think it's very important that they keep their folks at home."

President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, was more explicit and said U.S. officials know that Iran is supplying militants who are attacking U.S. and Iraqi government forces.

"We will interdict their operations," he said on ABC's "This Week." "We will disrupt their supply lines. We will disrupt these attacks. And you have seen in the last couple of weeks that Iranians found doing things in Iraq have been picked up by coalition forces. And I think you're going to see more of that."

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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