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| Iraq |
| Marines line up on Iranian Border! |
| 2003-03-26 |
| Royal Marines were deployed to Iraq's border with Iran yesterday in a move that will unnerve Teheran's regime, which fears encirclement by American-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence said the Royal Marines were merely "securing their area of operations" after seizing at the Faw peninsula. But with Iranian troops manning positions on the other side of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, British forces face a highly sensitive task. Tensions were illustrated by a succession of border incidents. A rocket struck an Iranian oil refinery depot in Abadan, just across from Basra, on Friday injuring two people while there were reports on Monday that Iranian forces had fired on British troops on the Faw peninsula. Iran is torn between publicly denouncing the "imperialist" war on a fellow Muslim country and co-operating tacitly with America and Britain in removing the old enemy, Saddam Hussein. America has waged war against two of Iran's most hated foes, the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Ba'athists in Baghdad. But the "Great Satan", as America is known, now has forces on two of Iran's borders. Neighbouring Arab countries have long feared a war in Iraq could suck in forces from Turkey and Iran. Western diplomats said Turkish intervention to forestall any Kurdish attempt to seize greater autonomy could encourage Iran to cross the border to support fellow Shi'ites and clear out bases of the main Iranian opposition group, the Mujahideen-e-Khalq. The leading Iraqi Shi'ite opposition group, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution, has thousands of fighters in Iran. Some have slipped into Iraqi Kurdistan and many more may cross the border to claim a stake in the future Iraqi government. Watch out, you may get that stake, it will be a little wood one about three feet high. |
| Posted by:Becky |
| #4 Iran is torn between publicly denouncing the "imperialist" war on a fellow Muslim country and co-operating tacitly with America and Britain in removing the old enemy, Saddam Hussein. Hah, stuck between Iraq and a hard place. Don'tcha just love this sort of thing? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-03-26 15:56:00 |
| #3 Shooting an automatic weapon at a Hog,not to bright. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-03-26 12:52:02 |
| #2 I saw a Brit embed report someplace yesterday where he watched Iranian gunners shooting at an A-10 while it was making an attack run. This sounds like a really good idea. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-26 09:18:32 |
| #1 Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon Wednesday dismissed reports that British troops had been deployed on Iraq's eastern border to counter any intervention in the Iraq war by Iran. "Much of coalition-controlled Iraq bordering Iran is under British command, but the suggestion that Royal Marines were sent to guard against Iranian forces are simply not true," Hoon told MPs. "We are seeking close contact with Iranian authorities to reduce the scope for any potential misunderstanding," he said in reference to a report by the BBC that the US and UK were concerned about Iran's interference in the war. On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw dismissed the BBC's claims about Iranian troops as 'poor' reporting, saying that there was 'no basis of evidence at all to substantiate' claimed Iranian militia incursions. Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions Wednesday, Tony Blair also said 'there appears to be no substance' to reports that Iranian irregular militia had opened fire on British troops. "I think they know what the consequences for any such action against British military troops will be," he said. Messages sent to Iran had been 'very, very clear' he said, adding he believed that they 'will be heeded'. His more stark tone contrasted with Straw emphasizing that the importance he attached to developing good relations with Iran and saying that he was 'only in touch with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi talking about this and other matters last Thursday'. This is another reason Brit Forces are on the right flank, the British have much better relations with the Iranians than we do. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-03-26 09:02:16 |