Official: Lawmakers See Iran Explosives

Artillery shells that were used to make a car bomb lay gathered by Iraqi police near the scene of a car bomb blast in central Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007. Serial numbers and other markings on bombs suggest that Iranians are linked to deadly explosives used by Iraqi militants, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in some of the administration's first public assertions on evidence the military has collected. While the Bush administration and military officials have repeatedly said Iranians have been tied to terrorist bombings in Iraq, they have said little about evidence to bolster such claims, including any documents and other items collected in recent raids in Iraq. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (Khalid Mohammed - AP)

MUNICH, Germany -- U.S. military commanders in Iraq have shown members of Congress explosive devices that bear Iranian markings as evidence Tehran is supplying Iraqi militants with bombs, a senior U.S. government official said Saturday.

One of the lawmakers, independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, said he has seen some of the evidence, though he would not be specific. "I'm convinced from what I've seen that the Iranians are supplying and are giving assistance to the people in Iraq who are killing American soldiers," said Lieberman, who was attending an international security conference in Munich.

The senior official said military commanders in December showed lawmakers mortar rounds and other munitions and fragments that had Iranian serial numbers and markings.

The official, who requested anonymity because the evidence collected has not been made public, said U.S. generals also displayed improvised explosive devices that they said reflected Iranian style.

On Friday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that serial numbers and other markings linked the Iranians to explosives used by insurgents in Iraq. His comments were among the Bush administration's first public assertions about evidence the military has collected.

The administration and military officials have said repeatedly that Iranians have been tied to terrorist bombings in Iraq. But U.S. officials have said little about evidence, including any documents and other items collected in recent raids in Iraq, to bolster such claims.

National security officials in Washington and Iraq have worked for weeks on a presentation intended to provide evidence for the administration's claims of what they say are Iran's meddlesome and deadly activities.

Officials say the materials _ which in their classified form include slides and 2 inches of documents _ provide evidence of Iran's role in supplying Iraqi militants with highly sophisticated and lethal improvised explosive devices and other weaponry.

Among the weapons is a roadside bomb known as an "explosively formed penetrator," which can pierce the armor of Abrams tanks with nearly molten-hot charges. One intelligence official said the U.S. is "fairly comfortable" it knows the source of the explosives.

The Iran dossier also lays out alleged Iranian efforts to train Iraqis in military techniques.

Government officials say there is some disagreement about how much to make public to support the administration's case. Intelligence officials worry the sources of their information could dry up.

Among the evidence the administration will present are weapons that were seized in U.S.-led raids on caches around Iraq, one military official in Washington said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.