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Iranian agents arrested in Iraq |
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Tuesday, 07 September 2004 |
Iran Focus
 Baghdad, Aug 20 - Some 100 Iranians holding fake Afghan identity cards were arrested on August 8 in Diyala Province, bordering Iran, according to sources in the area. They crossed the border illegally and entered Iraqi territory and initial investigations showed they had ties with the Iranian regime’s security services.
On August 3, three Iranians were arrested by the Iraqi National Guard near the town of Mandali, close to the Iranian border. They are named as Mohammad Sarkhad, Ali Rashad and Hossein Benali. All three were working for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
Seven other MOIS agents of Iranian and Afghan extraction were arrested in a separate incident on August 5 in the Mandali region.
Also on August 5, about two dozen Iranian who had illegally crossed into Iraq at Munduriah border area were arrested. Under interrogation, they said they intended to join the “jihad” against the Americans and their allies in Iraq and intended to go to Najaf.
On August 4, three Iranians identified as Mohammad, Jassem and Hossein, were arrested by Iraqi police near Khanaqin. They were carrying rocket-propelled grenades and handguns, as well narcotics.
On August 4, two Iranians holding Iraqi identity cards were arrested by Iraqi police near Jalula, as they were using portable communication equipment to contact their headquarters in Qasr-e Shirin, on the Iranian side of the border.
On August 7, Iraqi police in Sulaymanieh stopped and searched an Iranian, Hamdi Amini, from Paveh who owns a shop in Sulaymanieh. They discovered that he was carrying some 30 kg of explosives. Amini remains under arrest.
In response to the massive infiltration of borders by Iranian agents, Iraqi police is beefing up its presence along parts of the 1,200-km border. Brigadier General Nazem Sharif, head of the Diyala Province Central Police, said: “600 Iraqi policemen have been stationed along the Iran-Iraq border to stop different kinds of smuggling.” They are patrolling along 120 km of the border in Qara-Tu region and north of the Hanjira checkpoint in southern Diyala Province.
The growing meddling in Iraq by the Iranian regime has become a matter of public clashes between the two countries. Iraq’s interior minister, Fallah Naqib, told Al-Jazeera television on August 16, “The recent developments in Najaf are a conspiracy and a war against Iraq by a foreign country. The incidents Iraq is witnessing, including those in Najaf, are conducted according to a plan and with the briefing of a government with high capabilities. We have arrested a number of Libyans, Afghans and Iranians who were suspected of involvement in terrorist acts.”
Asked if Iran played a prominent role in the turmoil in Iraq, Naqib said, "Yes, the Iranians have infiltrated here, very much. [Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad"> Allawi will raise this issue with the government of that country during his visit to Tehran.” |
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Iran's nuclear standoff |
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AFP: Iran is using its warm relations with Venezuela to dodge UN sanctions and use Venezuelan aircraft to ship missile parts to Syria, an Italian newspaper reported Sunday.
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AP: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is warning that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, it could try to attack the United States.
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AP: Arab nations concerned about Iran's nuclear program want to meet regularly with the six international powers trying to ensure that it remains peaceful, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.
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UPI: The Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran is progressing at a rate that it should be operational no later than March 2010, an Iranian official projected Tuesday.
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Reuters: The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany agreed with Arab diplomats to consult regularly on Iran's nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday.
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AFP: Arab nations conferred Tuesday with six nations leading international efforts to convince Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, in a first-of-its-kind briefing at the United Nations.
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Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Dec. 16 – Iran is the 7th country in the world that is producing Uranium Hexaflouride (UF6), the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Mohammad Qannadi said on Monday.
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AFP: Ministers from the six nations involved in talks on Iran's nuclear program will meet Tuesday at the United Nations with representatives of several Arab countries, diplomatic sources said.
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AP: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the sting of international sanctions is forcing at least some Iranian leaders to second-guess the regime's rebuff of world demands that it roll back its disputed nuclear program.
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AFP: Germany wants further sanctions to be imposed against Iran, hitting the banking and transport sectors, according to the weekly Der Spiegel to be published Monday.
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