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Iraqi Shiite Cleric Pledges to Defend Iran
Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr, left, speaks with reporters in Tehran after meeting with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
(Associated Press)
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Iraq's Shiite-led government, which came to power after the 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein, has affirmed close ties with Iran. Prospective candidates for Iraq's prime minister post have first gone to Tehran for approval. Iran has poured aid into Iraq, and trade agreements have blossomed.
U.S. and British diplomats and commanders accuse Iran of allowing -- or encouraging -- transport of arms and fighters into Iraq to stage attacks.
On Monday, a senior U.S. military intelligence official said the British government had issued a formal protest to Tehran after sophisticated bombs began appearing in southeastern Iraq. The devices used the same kind of electronic triggers found in bombs made by the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, the official said.
"Our belief is that the machining is done somewhere in Iran," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Aides to Sadr said the cleric also visited Saudi Arabia, where he asked King Abdullah to press the United States for a deadline for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The aides said Sadr also visited Lebanon, where he had an appointment with Hasan Nasr Allah, a Hezbollah leader.
Ridha Jawad Taqi, a spokesman for the Supreme Council, Iraq's dominant party, would not comment Monday on whether Iran had asked for similar help from the party or its militia, the Badr Organization, in the event of attack, or on what the Supreme Council's response might be if Iran did make such a request.
Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks and special correspondent Bassam Sebti in Baghdad, and special correspondent Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.
