Gates: 'Fairly substantial flow of weapons' going to Taliban from Iran

Above: Taliban fighters. The U.S. has also accused Iran, which is overwhelmingly Shiite, of supplying Sunni insurgents in Iraq and more recently of supplying the Sunni-dominated Taliban.

Sizable shipments of Iranian weapons are being supplied to Taliban militants in Afghanistan, suggesting the government in Tehran is aware of them, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Gates said he has seen new information in the last couple of weeks "that makes it pretty clear there's a fairly substantial flow of weapons" going to militants fighting the coalition of Afghan, U.S. and other foreign troops.

Asked if he believed the government of Iran is involved, Gates said: "I would say I haven't seen any intelligence specifically to this effect, but ... given the quantities that we are seeing it is difficult to believe that it's associated with smuggling or the drug business or that it's taking place without the knowledge of the Iranian government."

Read the rest at CBS News

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