The confrontation between the United States and Iran over Iraq sharpened on Sunday, as Tehran demanded the release of five ”diplomats” captured in northern Iraq, while the Bush administration insisted the detainees were elite revolutionary guards fomenting the insurgency and warned that US was going to ”deal with” Iranian activity in Iraq.
US President George Bush on Sunday acknowledged that his administration’s decisions had contributed to instability in Iraq, telling a CBS interviewer: ”I think history is going to look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better. No question about it.”
He also admitted that the execution of Saddam Hussein had been mishandled, describing the event as ”discouraging”, according to excerpts of the TV show 60 Minutes. He said he had only watched part of the execution on the internet, because he had not wanted to watch Saddam fall through the trap door.
However, he stood by his decision to invade Iraq and topple the dictatorship, and his aides have defended his move last week to intensify US action against Iranian agents in Iraq.
Hours after he unveiled a tough new policy on Wednesday to ”seek out and destroy” Iranian and Syrian-supported networks supplying Iraqi insurgents and sectarian militias, five Iranians were seized by US forces in an early morning raid on an Iranian government office in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.
A US military statement said that an initial investigation found the detainees were linked to the Qods force of the Iranian revolutionary guard, ”an organisation known for providing funds, weapons, improvised explosive device technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilise the government of Iraq and attack coalition forces”.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, denied the claims, insisting that the detainees had been working to establish a consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan and had diplomatic immunity. ”Their job was basically consular, official and in the framework of regulations. What the Americans express is incorrect and hyperbole against Iran in order to justify their actions,” Hosseini said.
”The United States should release all five persons, prevent possible similar acts and compensate damages.”
The US national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, insisted that the US had the authority to detain anyone who ”put our people at risk” in Iraq.
”We are going to need to deal with what Iran is doing inside Iraq,” Hadley said, adding that the US would pursue a similar policy towards Syrian support for Iraqi insurgents and militias.
”We know there are jihadists moving from Syria into Iraq … We know also that Iran is supplying elements in Iraq that are attacking Iraqis and attacking our forces,” Hadley said. ”What the president made very clear is these are activities that are going on in Iraq that are unacceptable. They put our people at risk. He said very clearly that we will take action against those. We will interdict their operations, we will disrupt their supply lines, we will disrupt these attacks.”
As part of the offensive against militias, Iraqi soldiers arrested 50 suspected insurgents and seized 2 000 Katyusha rockets in a Shia area north-east of Baghdad. More than 30 suspected insurgents were detained near Abu Ghraib.
Bush’s ”seek and destroy” remarks last week raised speculation that US forces might undertake ”hot pursuit” raids over the border into Syria or Iran. Hadley did not rule out such raids, but emphasised that the US would prefer to deal with the problem within Iraq.
The priority, he told ABC, ”is what’s going on inside Iraq … That’s where we’re going to deal with his problem.”
He added: ”Anytime you have questions about crossing international borders there are legal issues … We intend to deal with it by interdicting and disrupting activities in Iraq sponsored by Iran.”
In Washington, a senior Democratic senator, Joseph Biden, wrote a formal letter to Bush, demanding to know whether the administration was contemplating cross-border operations and asking whether it believed it could carry out the raids without congressional approval.
The Bush administration has repeatedly accused Tehran of arming, funding and training militias and of providing roadside bombs that have killed US troops. Iran denies the allegations.
Last week’s raid, coupled with Bush’s remarks, appeared to signal a policy shift towards direct confrontation with Iran. It comes as the US prepares to send a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf and deploy advanced Patriot anti-missile defences in pro-American Arab states. – Guardian Unlimited Â