U.S. backs away from linking Iran govt to Iraq chaos

By Dean Yates

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States backed away on Wednesday from a U.S. official's comments implicating Iran's government in arming Iraqi militants and said it was not trying to "hype" evidence of Iranian weapons being used in Iraq.

President George W. Bush said he did not know if Iran's leaders ordered members of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards to provide improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to militias in Iraq.

"What we do know is that the Quds Force was instrumental in providing these deadly IEDs to networks inside of Iraq," he said. "What we don't know is whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds Force to do what they did."

A senior U.S. military analyst, at an off-the-record briefing by three officials in Baghdad on Sunday, indicated the "highest levels" of Iran's government were involved in arming Iraqi militants with weapons used to kill American soldiers.

Tensions were already high between the two arch-foes over Tehran's nuclear plans.

But the analyst's comments were not supported by the head of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Marine Corps General Peter Pace, who on Tuesday said Iranian weapons found in Iraq did not mean the "Iranian government per se ... is directly involved in doing this".

At a news conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, U.S. military spokesman Major-General William Caldwell was repeatedly pressed if he wanted to rescind the comments made by the analyst.

"We were not trying to hype this up. We wanted to present physical evidence ... that we know is being manufactured in Iran and is making its way into Iraq," Caldwell said.