I will say this about Iran. They are currently putting people into Iraq to do things that are harmful to the future of Iraq. And we know it, and it is something that they, I think, will look back on as having been an error in judgment, Rumsfeld said at a press briefing with Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace.
They’re putting Iranian Qods Force-type people into the country. The Qods Force. The Revolutionary Guard types, Rumsfeld added.
The Qods (Jerusalem) Force is the elite extraterritorial branch of the IRGC whose stated mission is to capture Jerusalem via Karbala, Iraq.
The U.S. Defence Secretary said that the IRGC agents coming into Iraq were being backed by the hard-line government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The Revolutionary Guard doesn’t go milling around willy-nilly, one would think.
Asked whether Tehran was dispatching its agents to carry out violence or for political purposes, he said, To the extent we find that — I don’t think we could consider them religious pilgrims.
There have been some IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and some weapons that we believe are traceable back to Iran, General Pace said.
He said that the most recent reports of Iranian meddling had to do with individuals crossing the border into Iraq.
We’re working with the Iraqi government to enhance the capacity, the total numbers dedicated to border control, and also their capacity, Pace added.
