By DPA
Baghdad : Top US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus reiterated Sunday his country’s accusations that Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq while charging that Iran’s ambassador there is a member of Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Petraeus, speaking from a military base near the Iran-Iraq border, was quoted by Arab broadcaster al-Arabiya as saying that Tehran provides Iraq with advanced weaponry.
US military officials had earlier alleged that highly sophisticated mines used to target coalition armoured units were being smuggled into Iraq from Iran.
Washington has been accusing Tehran of arming and training Shia Muslim militias in Iraq, and perhaps other insurgent groups. The US had said that the Quds force, a part of the Revolutionary Guards, is active in Iraq and is responsible for violence.
Iranian ambassador Hassan Kazemi-Qomi had previously met with US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker in talks to address US doubts about the role Iran is playing in Iraq.
But Iran has so far rejected the US accusations and had called on Washington to withdraw US forces from Iraq if it wants to end the turmoil in the country.