Old Tactics Used to Stop Iraq Smuggling

In this photo released by British 20th Armored Brigade, British soldiers from Maysaan Battle Group from the U.K.'s 20th Armored Brigade, patrol, in Maysaan province, southern Iraq, Wednesday Sept.13, 2006. Maysaan Battle group soldiers travel light, setting up camp among the sand dunes by night and speeding across vast expanses of desert by day to stop hostile infiltrators from Iran.Maysan, a tribal province many describe as the Wild West of Iraq,is the country's rugged frontier with Iran.(AP Photo/British 20th Armored Brigade,Cpl. Anthony Boocock,HO) (Cpl. Anthony Boocock - AP)

ON THE IRAQ-IRAN BORDER -- The soldiers of the Queen's Royal Hussars are traveling light, borrowing tactics from the British army's desert campaigns of World War II as they target arms smuggling across the rugged Iranian border.

Shedding their heavy tanks for swifter vehicles, they roam the desert under a blistering sun that sends temperatures soaring over 140 degrees. Always ready to move, they set up temporary camps beneath camouflage netting among the blackened fragments of artillery shells and anti-tank mines left over from the bloody 1980s war between Iran and Iraq.

The Hussars have been sent here to intercept deadly technology and weapons that U.S. and British officials say are having a devastating effect in the fight against the Iraqi insurgency. The U.S.-led coalition blames Iran for increasing the lethality of roadside bombs _ so-called IEDs, or improvised explosive devices _ that destroy even armored vehicles.

So far, the soldiers have found no proof of weapons smuggling here in Maysan, a lawless, tribal province in southeastern Iraq, even though they're sure it's happening.

Brig. James Everard, commander of Britain's 20th Armored Brigade, which includes the Hussars, said coalition leaders believe the flow of weapons is "underpinning the insurgent campaign, not only in Basra but more particularly in Baghdad."

U.S. officials charge that the smuggling is officially sanctioned by Tehran.

"The Iranians, through their covert special operations forces, are providing weapons, IED technology and training to Shiite extremist groups in Iraq," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a command spokesman in Baghdad.

Iran also provides training for insurgents that takes place in Iran and in Lebanon, through the Hezbollah guerrilla movement, Johnson said.

In addition, the Pentagon says the armor-piercing design of the new IEDs appears similar to bombs used by Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas against Israeli tanks in Lebanon.

Tehran has rejected the accusations, though not ruling out that weapons might cross into Iran illegally somewhere along the rugged 900-mile border, which is notoriously difficult to patrol.

Everard said the issue of Iranian interference is an important part of the mission.

"It's just a question of intelligence versus evidence. I think traditionally one has wanted to see it with one's own eyes," he said. "Because these are serious allegations that people are deliberately, as part of formal policy, putting weapons across a border into another sovereign country."