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Iraq Backs Off Accusations Against Iran

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Los Angeles Times

Published: May 5, 2008

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government backed away Sunday from accusations of Iranian interference, saying it has appointed a committee to determine whether there is merit to U.S. charges that Iran is arming and training Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq.

The sharp change in tone after meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran, Iran's capital, reflects the difficult position Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in as he tries to juggle relations with two powerful allies who are intense rivals.

"We have no choice but to have good relations with the neighboring countries," said al-Maliki's spokesman, Ali Dabbagh. "We do not want to be pushed into a conflict with a country like Iran."

Dabbagh's comments came after U.S. officials trumpeted a discovery of large quantities of Iranian weapons, some made in 2008. If true, they would suggest Iran had not kept a promise to al-Maliki to help cut arms, funding and training to Iraqi militants.

Sunday, Dabbagh told reporters that Iraqi officials who made the accusations against Iran had acted irresponsibly and al-Maliki appointed a Cabinet-level committee to investigate the claims.

While the Iraqi government has said it would not be used for a proxy war between the United States and Iran over Iran's nuclear aspirations, the statement came as Iraq's government had taken tough stances toward Iran last week.

They included a delegation sent to Iran to urge Tehran to stop the flow of weapons and to refrain from funding Shiite militias battling Iraqi forces.

A U.S. official in Baghdad rejected allegations made Saturday by a senior Iranian official who accused the United States of attacking Iraqi civilians, Iranian state media reported. U.S. Embassy spokesman Armand Cucciniello said remarks by the unnamed official "align the Iranian government with these very extremists and criminal elements and against the Iraqi government and people."

Also Sunday, Iraq's first lady escaped unharmed from a bomb attack on her motorcade in Baghdad that injured four guards. President Jalal Talabani's wife, Hiro Ibrahim Ahmed, was going to the National Theater when the attack occurred, the president's office said.

Information from The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune was used in this report.

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