US defence secretary on Iraq visit says US to act “unilaterally” against what he said was Iran’s arming of Shia groups.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said that his country will act “uniterally” to confront what he said were Iranian threats to US interests in Iraq.
Speaking during his first visit to Baghdad since taking office on July 1, Panetta said on Monday that the US was ”very concerned about Iran and the weapons they are providing to extremists here in Iraq”.
He blamed weapon supplies from Iran for the increase in violence in June, the deadliest month for US troops in Iraq in two years.
“In June we lost a hell of a lot of Americans as a result of those attacks. And we cannot just simply stand back and allow this to continue to happen,” he said.
Panetta said Washington’s first effort would be to press the Iraqi government and military to go after the Shia groups he said were responsible for the attacks.
“Secondly, to do what we have to do unilaterally, to be able to go after those threats as well, and we’re doing that,” he said, referring to the right of US forces to defend themselves on Iraqi soil.
“And thirdly, to bring pressure on Iran to not engage in this kind of behaviour.
“Because, very frankly, they need to know that our first responsibility is to protect those that are defending our country. And that is something we are going to do.”
Underscoring US concerns over independent armed groups, three rockets landed in Baghdad’s Green Zone after Panetta’s arrival, Iraqi police told the AP news agency.
US troop uncertainty
Panetta is holding closed-door meetings with Iraqi officials during his visit and is expected to press them for a decision on whether they will allow US troops to remain in the country past an official withdrawal deadline at the end of the year.
The pact between the US and Iraq, called the Status of Forces Agreement, was approved by the Iraqis in December 2008.
It mandates that US forces withdraw completely by the end of 2011, but both the US and Iraqi are reportedly considering allowing the US to keeping some troops in the country.
However, the presence of US troops on Iraqi soil is widely unpopular, and no Iraqi politician has so far been willing to say publicly that soldiers should remain after 2011.
A spokesman for the bloc of politicians loyal to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has said, of the US, that any country involved in armed activity on Iraqi soil should “understand the consequences,” Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh reported from Baghdad.
The bloc had previously threatened to “unfreeze” the Mahdi Army armed group controlled by Sadr if US troops remained after 2011, but they have withdrawn that threat, Rageh said.
Source: Aljazeera
وزیر دفاع آمریکا: با تهدیدهای ایران در عراق یکجانبه مقابله میکنیم
لئون پانتا، وزیر دفاع آیالات متحده آمریکا روز دوشنبه از تامین سلاح های شورشیان شیعه عراقی توسط ایران ابراز نگرانی کرد و هشدار داد آمریکا در صورتی که ضروری بداند به صورت یکجانبه علیه این تهدید دست به اقدام خواهد زد.لئون پانتا، وزیر دفاع ایالات متحده آمریکا روز دوشنبه از تامین سلاح های شورشیان شیعه عراقی توسط ایران ابراز نگرانی کرد و هشدار داد آمریکا در صورتی که ضروری بداند به صورت یک جانبه علیه این تهدیدات دست به اقدام خواهد زد
آقای پانتا که برای دیدار با مقام های عراقی به بغداد سفر کرده است، در جمع کوچکی از سربازان آمریکایی گفت: «در وهله نخست، آمریکا تلاش می کند تا به مقام های عراقی و نیروهای نظامی این کشور فشار بیاورد تا گروه های شیعه مسئول حمله به نیروهای آمریکایی را تعقیب کنند
وی افزود: «در مرحله بعد، به صورت یکجانبه کاری را که لازم است انجام می دهیم تا سراغ کسانی برویم که دست به چنین اقدام های تهدید آمیزی می زنند
وزیر دفاع آمریکا می گوید: «ما درباره ایران و سلاح هایی که آنها در اختیار افراطی ها در عراق می گذارند بسیار نگران هستیم. و شاهد نتیجه این اقدامات نیز هستیم
آقای پانتا اظهار داشت: «در ماه ژوئن آمریکایی های زیادی را در نتیجه این حملات از دست دادیم. و نمیتوانیم خیلی ساده کنار بایستیم و بگذاریم این وضعیت ادامه پیدا کند
مقامهای آمریکایی پیش از این بارها از آنچه که نقش «مداخله جویانه» ایران در امور عراق عنوان می کنند، ابراز نگرانیکردهاند و این در حالی است که حکومت جمهوری اسلامی همواره حمایت از گروههای خشونتطلب در عراق یا دخالت در امور داخلی این کشور را تکذیب کرده است
مایک مولن، رئیس ستاد مشترک ارتش آمریکا، ۱۶ تیرماه اعلام کرد که تهران به طور مستقیم از گروههای افراطی که سربازان آمریکایی را میکشند، پشتیبانی میکند
پیش از آن و در اواخر خرداد ماه نیز، رابرت گیتس، وزیر دفاع پیشین آمریکا ایران را به تحویل سلاحهای پیشرفته به شورشیان شیعه مذهب عراق متهم کرده بود و نسبت به گسترش نفوذ ایران در عراق هشدار داده بود
روز دوشنبه نیز، لئون پانتا ضمن هشدار در مورد حمایت ایران از شبهنظامیان عراق، گفت: بغداد باید با شدت بیشتری با شبهنظامیان شیعهای که به گفته وی از تسلیحات ارسالی ایران بهره میبرند، مقابله کند
وزیر دفاع جدید آمریکا روز یکشنبه وارد بغداد شد و قرار است در این سفر با جلال طالبانی، رئیس جمهور عراق، نوری المالکی، نخست وزیر عراق و مسعود بارزانی، رئیس منطقه کردستان عراق دیدار کند
قرار بر این است لئون پانتا در این سفر درباره ادامه حضور نیروهای آمریکایی در عراق با مقام های این کشور گفتوگو کند
پیشتر واشنگتن و بغداد توافق کرده بودند که آمریکا تا پایان سال ۲۰۱۱ میلادی، ۴۶ هزار نیروی باقیمانده خود را از خاک عراق خارج کند، اما کاخ سفید معتقد است که بغداد به حضور برخی از نیروهای آمریکایی در این کشور پس از مهلت تعیین شده، نیاز خواهد داشت
منبع فارسی: موج سبز
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