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Britain blames Iran for Iraq attacks on UK troops
Britain accused Iran and Lebanon's Hizbollah guerillas on Wednesday of supplying militants in Iraq with the techniques for making armour piercing bombs used to kill British troops. Washington and London have long accused Iran of fomenting unrest in Iraq. Iran has denied them, but the allegations, made by British officials under condition of anonymity, were more detailed than previous public remarks. An official told Reuters that recent bomb attacks on British troops, believed to be the work of Shi'ite militia groups, had used armour-piercing explosives and infrared controls "which basically you would need specific expertise to use". The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group Hizbollah helped end Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon. Its guerrillas have used similar devices, leading Britain to suspect an Iranian link. "They were using technically advanced equipment that had previously been used by Lebanese Hizbollah, and they are linked with Iran. Therefore there was some indication that Iran was linked to those attacks," the official said. "There was some suggestion that this could be elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that were involved." Iran "categorically rejected" the accusations, saying that the British charges arose after Tehran accused British forces of links to anti-government groups operating in southern Iran. "The stability of Iraq is of paramount importance to Iran," a statement from the Iranian embassy in London said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has always taken position against insurgency and violence in Iraq." Eight British soldiers have been killed since May in five homemade roadside bomb attacks, the British military says. ATTACKS NEAR BASRA U.S. commanders in Iraq have also said they believe the technology to build "shaped charges", with greater killing power particularly against armoured vehicles, was brought to Iraq from Iran after being developed by Lebanon's Hizbollah. Though initially used by Shi'ite militias in southern Iraq, their use has spread to the Sunni Arabs who make up the main insurgency against U.S. forces further north. Dozens have been recorded in the past few months, U.S. officers say. By directing explosive power in a concentrated way, these "explosively formed projectiles" have pierced armour of U.S. vehicles killing their occupants on several occasions. British forces patrol the area around Basra in southern Iraq, territory that is overwhelmingly Shi'ite, where militia with historical ties to Shi'ite Iran have been powerful. British troops have come under attack several times in recent weeks, most notably in a riot after British forces attacked a jail to free undercover soldiers they said had been turned over to a Shi'ite militia by police. The British official said London suspects that Shi'ite Iran has backed "Sunni elements" in Iraq, as well as the Shi'ite militia with which it has sectarian ties. "There was evidence that there were links to certain Sunni groups that were part and parcel of Iranian efforts to destabilise Iraq," he said. A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "Iranian links to militant groups are unacceptable and undermine Iran's long-term interest in a secure, stable and democratic Iraq. Iran has given public undertakings on a number of occasions not to intervene in Iraq's internal affairs."
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