‘Markings’ show Iraq bombs come from Iran

SERIAL numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide “pretty good” evidence that Iran is providing either weapons or technology for militants there, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday.

Offering some of the first public details of evidence the military has collected, Gates said: “I think there’s some serial numbers, there may be some markings on some of the projectile fragments that we found,” that point to Iran.

However, he said he was somewhat surprised that recent raids by coalition and Iraqi forces in Iraq swept up some Iranians.

Just last week, Mr Gates said that US military officers in Baghdad were planning to brief reporters on what is known about Iranian involvement in Iraq but that he and other senior administration officials had intervened to delay the briefing in order to assure that the information was accurate.

Mr Gates said: “I don’t think there was surprise that the Iranians were actually involved, I think there was surprise we actually picked up some.”

He and other US officials have said for some time that Iranians, and possibly the government of Iran, have been providing weapons technology, and possibly explosives to Iraqi insurgents.

The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been a leading killer of US forces in Iraq, where more than 3,000 servicemen and women have died in the war.

The Bush administration has promised a detailed accounting of allegations that Iran is contributing to violence or instability in Iraq but has not yet released that dossier.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials have faced sceptical questions from politicians about the strength of the evidence and the parallels to administration claims about Iraq before the invasion.

“Under the circumstances, we want to make sure that we provide you the best information possible,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.