US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad reported today that the US is holding a leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard!
The AP is reporting:
The U.S. ambassador said Wednesday that one of the Iranians detained by U.S. forces in Iraq during two raids over the past month was the director of operations for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Quds faction, the organization responsible for funding and arming Iraqi militants.
Zalmay Khalilzad said the recent raids were part of a “new strategy” to “go after their networks that are active here.”
The United States is building up its troops in the region, beyond the additional 21,500 on their way to Iraq for a new security crackdown, in what U.S. officials say is a message to Iran. Khalilzad sought to reinforce Washington’s message that Tehran should keep its hands off Iraq, where it has enormous influence with the majority Shiite population.
…Khalilzad said Iranian agents were working with “a variety of groups, and there are groups that they fund and control, in my judgment, directly.”
There were reports in the media out there all week…
One suggestion…
It is not clear if one of five Iranian officials detained is Mahommad Jaafari Sharoudi (Sahraroudi) who is wanted in Austria in connection with the assassination of Kurdish leader Andol Rahman Ghassemlu in 1989. ADN Kronos and Kurdish Media both claimed that one of the Erbil detainees was the notorious Al Quds leader, Sharoudi (Sahraroudi).
Kurdish leader Abdol Rahman Ghassemlu was assassinatied in Vienna, Austria in 1989. Mohammad Jaafari Sharoudi is wanted by Austrian officials for the murder of Ghassemlu and there are reports that he is the Al Quds leader held by the US in Iraq.
Another report… from Iranian Bazteb News said it was Hassan Abbasi known by his friends as “The Dr. Kissinger of Islam”:
Based on unconfirmed received reports from reliable sources in Iraq, Hassan Abbasi was among those who was arrested in the Thursday, January 11th early-morning raid in the Iraqi town of Erbil.
Hassan Abbasi known by his friends as “The Dr. Kissinger of Islam,” is the guru of the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary guard corps which puts volunteers and recruits through rigorous training in four camps funded and run by the Revolutionary Guard.
Abbasi has been among the highest ranking members of the Islamic regime’s terror operations for many years, acting as Khamenei’s foreign policy and defense advisor. Abbasi has had an active voice under not only Khamenei but also Rafsanjani and Khatami as well.
The Iranian foreign minister slipped this in a news conference this week: “The foreign ministry spokesman also said that Hassan Abbasi and Mohammad Ja’fari Shahroudi are not among the Iranian kidnapped diplomats in Iraq.”
Via HotAir– “The Pentagon’s special operations office, the Marines, and the Army — earlier this week pleaded that the captured Iranians are too great a danger to American forces to return to Iran.”
Winston notes that the Iranian regime is getting nervous.
Previously:
Reports: Iranian Revolutionary Guard Leader Arrested in Iraq
Iranian Arrested at Erbil Consulate Wanted in Austria
Reports: US Is Holding Kurdish Killer Sharoudi in Erbil
