Reuters: The U.S. ambassador to Iraq accused Iran on Tuesday of having forces in Iraq and said Tehran could use the war between Hizbollah militants and Israel in Lebanon to try and further destabilize the country. TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to Iraq accused Iran on Tuesday of having forces in Iraq and said Tehran could use the war between Hizbollah militants and Israel in Lebanon to try and further destabilize the country.
“The region is very much interconnected. What happened in Lebanon affects things here,” Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters in the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit.
“Iran … has some forces here. There is the possibility that they might encourage those forces to create increased instability here.”
The United States has repeatedly accused non-Arab Shi’ite Iran of fomenting violence and instability by sending weapons and fighters into Iraq, a charge Tehran denied.
The Islamic Republic, which has improved ties with its fellow Shi’ites leading the Baghdad government, says it wants a stable Iraq.
(Reporting by Alister Bull, editing by Fredrik Dahl)
