WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has seized new made-in-Iran weapons
in Iraq that point to direct aid by Teheran to Shi'ite militias.
Officials said U.S. forces have captured Iranian anti-tank weapons and
munitions that bear manufacturing dates from 2006. They said the mint
weapons were brought straight from Iranian production lines to Iraq.
"There is no way this could be done without [Iranian] government
approval," a senior official told ABC News on Thursday.
The Defense Department has long reported that Iran was financing and
equipping Shi'ite militias, Middle East Newsline reported. But officials said that until the latest
seizure, some in the Bush administration argued that Iraqi Shi'ite militias
could have acquired the Iranian weapons from the black market.
The U.S. military has determined that the latest weapons reflected
direct aid by the Teheran government to its Iraqi clients, officials said.
They said the captured weapons included shape-charge bombs meant to pierce
U.S.-origin M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.
Other captured weapons were identified as advanced anti-tank missiles
produced in Iran and based on Russian systems. The officials said the
transfer was conducted by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, also
responsible for training Iraqi Shi'ite fighters.
Officials said IRGC has sent about 1,000 members of the Al Mahdi Army to
Lebanon. They said the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has held month-long
courses in light weapons, IEDs, sabotage and intelligence for the Iraqis.
"Over the last 18 months, the Mahdi Army has grown enormously," an
official said. "The force has gone from 10,000 to about 40,000."
