WASHINGTON (AFP) — Iranian support for armed insurgents in Iraq has fallen slightly amid stepped up security along their joint border, the top US commander in Baghdad, General Ray Odierno, said Tuesday.
"I would just say that what we've seen is, we've seen a bit of a slowdown of support. I like to say that has to do with the pressure that we've put on with us and the Iraqi security forces along the borders," Odierno told US reporters.
"I think we've made it much more difficult."
Speaking as US troops completed their withdrawal from Iraqi cities Tuesday, Odierno said Iran was still giving "training and providing some weapons" to Iraqi armed groups.
"But I believe they might also be trying to do a bit more soft influence in Iraq, as well," he said in a video-link from Iraq with US journalists here.
"We've uncovered several large weapon caches. We've also been able to go after and reconcile with some of the groups that they initially were supporting."
He added Iran realized in "probably in February or March of this year that some of their strategy was failing.
"They had fought against the security agreement. The security agreement was signed," Odierno added, referring to the accord under which US troops have been withdrawing from Iraqi cities.
The Status of Forces Agreement, which set the June 30 pullback deadline, says US commanders now must seek Iraqi permission to conduct operations, but their troops retain a unilateral right to "legitimate self-defense."
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
