In a preview of a speech Bush was to give to the American Legion veterans group here, the White House renewed charges that Iranian elements have provided training, support, and weapons for extremists in Iraq.
“The Iranian Regime Must Halt These Actions At Once,” the statement’s title said.
“Some say Iran’s leaders are not aware of what members of their own regime are doing. Others say Iran’s leaders are actively seeking to provoke the West. Either way, Iranian leaders bear the responsibility for aiding attacks against Coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis,” it said.
Bush was to lay out in his speech “Why Winning The Fight In Iraq Is Key To Countering the Ambitions Of Al Qaeda And Iran,” the White House said.
“The most important and immediate way to counter the ambitions of Al Qaeda, Iran, and other forces of instability and terror in the Middle East is to win the fight in Iraq,” according to the statement.
The White House said that Iran-backed Shiite extremists have been training Iraqis to carry out attacks on US forces, as well as Iraq’s government and people.
And members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force have been supplying extremists with funding and arms, including sophisticated improvised explosive devices — best known as “roadside bombs” — the White House said.
It also charged that attacks on US forces using Iranian-supplied weapons had increased in the past few months even as Iran has said it wants to help quell violence in Iraq.
