Iran ‘link’ to bomb that killed British troops

AN IRAQI police commander said the type of bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers on Thursday had not been seen in the region previously, and indicated it could be Iranian-designed.

Basra police chief Mohammed al-Moussawi’s description of the deadly weapon hinted it could be an Iranian-designed explosively formed penetrator.

The news comes after Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday accused elements in the Iranian regime of supporting terrorism in Iraq.

Two more of the bombs were discovered planted along routes heavily travelled by US and British diplomats in Basra. Weeks earlier, the American military had claimed Iran was supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with the powerful weapons, known as EFPs. They are capable of piercing armoured vehicles. Yesterday, a suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with TNT and toxic chlorine gas crashed into a police checkpoint in Ramadi, killing at least 27 people and wounding dozens.