BAGHDAD, 22 November 2007 — A US general yesterday acknowledged Iran’s role in helping quell the bloodshed in Iraq, saying Tehran had contributed to stopping the flow of arms across the border into the country. Lt. Gen. James Dubik, who is in charge of training Iraqi security forces, said Tehran was keeping to its pledge of stopping the smuggling of weapons to Iraqi extremists.
“We are all thankful for the commitment Iran has made to reduce the flow in weapons, explosives and training (of extremists) in Iraq,” Dubik told reporters in Baghdad’s Green Zone. “As a result of that, it has made some contribution to the reduction of violence” in Iraq, he said.
US commanders claim violence in Iraq has dropped by 55 percent since the military’s surge became fully operational in June. Dubik said it was still early to assess the exact contribution of Iran but “we hope that the commitment stays in effect.”
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this month said Tehran had assured Baghdad it would help stop the inflow of Iranian weapons into Iraq. The US military has charged that Iranian-made bombs were being smuggled into Iraq to Shiite extremists and used to kill coalition forces.
Another US commander, Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, expressed optimism that the decision to hold fresh talks between Tehran, Washington and Baghdad over the turmoil in Iraq would further help boost this commitment of Iran. “It is important here that the commitments that have been made start to see progress that is strategically measurable and sustains over time,” he told reporters in the conference with Dubik.
On Tuesday, Tehran announced it was ready for talks with Washington over the Iraq’s security and stability. The talks would be held in Baghdad but the final date is yet to be fixed.
A suicide car bomb exploded yesterday at a police checkpoint guarding a courthouse in Ramadi, killing at least six people in the largest attack on Anbar province’s capital in months, police said. The dead included three women, said Col. Jubair Rashid Naief, a provincial police official. Another 13 people were wounded.
Ramadi, 115 kilometers west of Baghdad, was once a base for Sunni insurgents but has seen a huge security improvement since many Sunni tribesmen began partnering with US forces last year.
The US military said a sophisticated roadside bomb killed a US soldier and an Iraqi interpreter and wounded three other soldiers on patrol Tuesday in eastern Baghdad.
The soldiers were returning to a US base after conducting an escort mission when they were struck by an explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, the military said.
EFPs fire a slug of molten metal capable of penetrating even the most heavily armored vehicles, and are have been responsible for hundreds of US deaths in Iraq. At least 3,874 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Iraqi security troops, meanwhile, unearthed six decomposed bodies in southern Baghdad. The bodies were buried in the backyards of residents who had fled violence in their Saydiyah neighborhood, said army Col. Jabbar Hussein.
