Potential New Evidence of Iran Providing Weapons to Iraqi Insurgents

By
MARTHA RADDATZ
February 27, 2008, 11:16 PM ET
2 min read

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 26, 2007 — -- Out of all the enemies the United States faces in Iraq, the most troubling ones come from Iran, and according to U.S. officials, the Pentagon will soon present evidence that Iran is providing deadly weapons to insurgents.

ABC News has learned the weapons include efps, explosively formed pentrators that can cut through the strongest armor.

This information comes as Washington is ratcheting up the pressure against the Middle East nation.

An official told ABC News that the administration is aggressively pursuing a "capture or kill" policy toward Iranians aiding the Iraqi insurgency.

"It makes sense that if somebody is trying to harm our troops or stop us from achieving our goal or killing innocent citizens in Iraq, that we will stop them," Bush said.

Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke to reporters today as the Senate considered its response to the request for a troop surge in Iraq.

Gates reiterated the need to target Iranian agents in Iraq. "I think that we're not going to stand by and let people bring sophisticated IEDs into the country that can disable Abrams tanks," he said.

Policy Protest

In recent weeks the United States has detained a handful of Iranians inside Iraq, but the president said today that the United States would keep its search within those borders and not broaden the search to Iran.

"Some are trying to say that because we're enforcing, helping ourselves in Iraq by stopping outside influences killing our soldiers and hurting Iraqi people, that we want toexpand this. … That's a presumption that's simply not accurate," Bush said.

In the meantime, both the president and Gates emphatically defended the plan to send 20,000 additional troops to Iraq, with Gates warning that opposition to the plan could "embolden" the enemy.

"It seems pretty straightforward that any indication of flagging will in the United States gives encouragement to those folks," he said.

Despite that warning, Democrats are confident they will pass a resolution condemning the plan, and Saturday will bring thousands of protesters rallying against it in Washington.