Iraq confronts Iran with facts, Iran whines

Reuters/Washington Post:

An Iraqi delegation in Iran has confronted Iranian security officials with evidence that Tehran is providing support for Shi'ite militias battling Iraqi government forces, an Iraqi official said on Friday.

"They presented a list of names, training camps and cells linked to Iran," Haidar al-Ibadi, a member of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa party, told Reuters.

"The Iranians did not confess or admit anything. They claim they are not intervening in Iraq and they feel they are being unfairly blamed for everything going on Iraq," he said of the talks, which took place on Thursday.

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The U.S. military said this week that "very, very significant" amounts of Iranian weaponry had been found in Basra and Baghdad during the offensive. Some of those arms were made in 2008, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been a "sea change" in Baghdad's view of Iranian activity in Iraq since the discovery of the weapons.

"Basra changed it for the Iraqis. I'm not sure they believed it before. But they went to Basra and saw it first hand," he said.

...

Ibadi said the delegation had presented evidence showing that Mehdi Army leaders in Basra had escaped to Iran to avoid the assault by government troops.

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The Iraqis should not expect good faith responses from the Iranians. If Iran was operating in good faith there wouldn't be any of her weapons and personnel in Iraq. The whine about being blamed is so childish. It is also unconvincing. In effect they are telling the Iraqis "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?"

There is much good news from this confrontation. The Iraqi army has outperformed the Iranian trained militia in Basra and with the help of the US it is beating it in Sadr City. That is encouraging news for those who want to win in Iraq.