http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=31141
Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah wave flags as one of them carries
a poster depicting Syria's President al-Assad, in Tyre. (AFP)
Iran ships arms, personnel to Syria via Iraq
20/09/2012
A picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency shows Bashar al-Assad
welcoming Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi upon his arrival for a
meeting in Damascus. (AFP)
Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah wave flags as one of them carries a
poster depicting Syria's President al-Assad, in Tyre. (AFP)
A Syrian rebel walks past the stairs of a bombed building in the Saif Al
Duli district in Aleppo, Syria. (AP)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran has been using civilian aircraft to fly
military personnel and large quantities of weapons across Iraqi airspace to
Syria to aid President Bashar al-Assad in his attempt to crush an 18-month
uprising against his government, according to a Western intelligence report
seen by Reuters.
Earlier this month, U.S. officials said they were questioning Iraq about
Iranian flights in Iraqi airspace suspected of ferrying arms to Assad, a
staunch Iranian ally. On Wednesday, U.S. Senator John Kerry threatened to
review U.S. aid to Baghdad if it does not halt such overflights.
Iraq says it does not allow the passage of any weapons through its airspace.
But the intelligence report obtained by Reuters says Iranian weapons have been
flowing into Syria via Iraq in large quantities. Such transfers, the report
says, are organized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"This is part of a revised Iranian modus operandi that U.S. officials have only
recently addressed publicly, following previous statements to the contrary,"
said the report, a copy of which was provided by a U.N. diplomatic source.
"It also flies in the face of declarations by Iraqi officials," it said.
"Planes are flying from Iran to Syria via Iraq on an almost daily basis,
carrying IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) personnel and tens of tons of
weapons to arm the Syrian security forces and militias fighting against the
rebels."
It added that Iran was also "continuing to assist the regime in Damascus by
sending trucks overland via Iraq" to Syria.
Although the specific charges about Iraq allowing Iran to transfer arms to
Damascus are not new, the intelligence report alleges that the extent of such
shipments is far greater than has been publicly acknowledged, and much more
systematic, thanks to an agreement between senior Iraqi and Iranian officials.
Ali al-Moussawi, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's media adviser, dismissed
the intelligence report.
"Iraq rejects baseless allegations that it allows Iran to use its airspace to
ship arms to Syria," he said. "The prime minister has always called for a
peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict and ... the need for a ban on any
state interfering in Syria whether by sending arms or helping others to do so."
The issue of Iranian arms shipments to Syria came up repeatedly at a Senate
hearing in Washington on Wednesday on the nomination of Robert Beecroft as the
next U.S. ambassador to Baghdad. Beecroft is currently deputy chief of mission
there.
John Kerry, the Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
asked Beecroft what the embassy was doing to persuade the Iraqis to prevent
Iran from using their airspace for flights carrying weapons to Syria. Beecroft
said that he and other U.S. officials made clear to Iraq the flights must stop.
U.S. THREAT TO REVIEW AID
Kerry said he was alarmed that U.S. efforts thus far had not persuaded Baghdad
to halt the overflights, and suggested that the United States could in future
make some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance it gives to Iraq
contingent on their cooperation on Syria.
"Maybe we should make some of our assistance or some of our support contingent
on some kind of appropriate response," he said. "It just seems completely
inappropriate that we're trying to help build democracy, support them, put
American lives on the line, money into the country, and they're working against
our interest so overtly."
The intelligence report, which Western diplomats said was credible and
consistent with their information, said Iran had cut a deal with Iraq to use
its airspace.
One envoy said it was possible that Tehran and Baghdad did not in fact have any
formal agreement, but only an informal understanding not to raise questions
about possible arms transfers to Syria.
In comments published by Iranian media on Sunday, IRGC commander-in-chief
Mohammad Ali Jafari said members of the force were providing non-military
assistance in Syria and Lebanon. He added that Tehran might get involved
militarily in Syria if its closest ally came under attack. A day later,
however, Iran's Foreign Ministry denied those remarks.
Two Boeing 747 aircraft specifically mentioned in the intelligence report as
being involved in Syria arms transfers - an Iran Air plane with the tail number
EP-ICD and Mahan Air's EP-MNE - were among 117 aircraft hit with sanctions on
Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department.
The Treasury Department also blacklisted aircraft operated by Iran's Yas Air
for supplying Syria with weapons. A U.N. panel of experts that monitors
compliance with U.N. sanctions against Iran has repeatedly named Yas Air, along
with Iran Air, as a supplier of arms to Syria.
The Treasury Department statement on the new blacklistings said the move would
"make it easier for interested parties to keep track of this blocked property,
and more difficult for Iran to use deceptive practices to try to evade
sanctions."
The statement did not mention Iraq.
Earlier this year, the U.N. panel of experts recommended that Yas Air be put on
the U.N. blacklist for helping Iran skirt a U.N. arms embargo. So far the
Security Council has not taken any action on that recommendation.
The U.N. panel's reports have described Iranian arms shipments to Syria via
Turkey, not Iraq.
The intelligence report said such transfers across Turkish airspace had ceased.
"Since Ankara adopted a firm position against Syria, and declared that it would
intercept all weapons shipments sent to the Assad regime through Turkish
territory or airspace, Tehran has all but completely stopped using this
channel," it said.
Tehran is forbidden from selling weapons under a U.N. arms embargo, which is
part of broader sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Earlier this month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Syria's conflict
had taken a brutal turn with other countries arming both sides, spreading
misery and risking "unintended consequences as the fighting intensifies and
spreads
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