Iran's Envoy in Iraq 'is Revolutionary Guard'

The commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, yesterday sharpened America's confrontation with Iran, claiming that a leader of its Revolutionary Guard corps was in direct charge of policy in Baghdad.

The charge that Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, was a member of the Quds force, a unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, takes US accusations of Iranian meddling in Iraq's violence to a new level. It strengthens suggestions that Washington is ratcheting up the rhetoric against Tehran in preparation for possible military strikes against Revolutionary Guard facilities in Iran.

"The ambassador is a Quds force member," Gen Petraeus told reporters at the weekend. "Now he has diplomatic immunity and therefore he is obviously not subject [to scrutiny]. He is acting as a diplomat."

The general, who told Congress last month that Iran was playing an increasingly dangerous role in Iraq by providing arms to Shia militia, provided no evidence that Mr Kozemi-Qomi was a member of the Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian ambassador has held two sessions with the top US diplomat in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, to discuss the violence in Iraq.

The Quds force is believed to be a supporter of such groups as Hamas and Hezbollah. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini responded to the accusations, telling a news conference: "His remarks are not new and what he said was in line with the previous accusations against Iran."

Tehran denies US accusations that it plays a role in Iraq's violence, as well as western allegations its nuclear program is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

In August officials revealed the Bush administration was considering designating the entire Revolutionary Guard corps a terrorist organization. However, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, reportedly was furious at the leak, which she saw as an attempt by hawks to escalate America's confrontation with Iran. Reports last month said the state department had decided instead to single out the Quds force as a terrorist entity, which would enable the Bush administration to impose financial measures against the elite unit.

In his comments at the weekend to Reuters and CNN, Gen Petraeus said he had few doubts about the role of the Quds force in the violence in Iraq, accusing the unit of supplying material for roadside bombs which have killed US troops as well as provincial governors.

"There should be no question about the malign, lethal involvement and activities of the Qods force in this country," he said. "They are responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers."

Also yesterday the Iraqi government accused guards working for private security contractor Black water of the "deliberate" killing of Iraqi civilians at the opening of a joint US-Iraq review into last month's fatal shooting. A spokesman for the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, said the death toll from the incident stood at 17, and that the Black water guards had not come under fire before they opened up their weapons.