Iran's Moves on Iraqi Border Begin to Disturb U.S. Officials

Iran's Moves on Iraqi Border Begin to Disturb U.S. Officials
Actions Come Along with Concern Syria Is Giving Refuge to Hussein Supporters
The Wall Street Journal
April 11, 2003
By DAVID S. CLOUD Staff Reporter

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Iran is making threatening moves along its extensive border with Iraq that U.S. officials increasingly fear could lead to a military clash. Sporadic artillery rounds are believed to have been fired by Iranian forces, Iranian patrol boats have engaged in aggressive posturing and U.S. intelligence has detected signs that Tehran has dispatched military equipment toward the Iraqi border.

These ominous gestures come amid growing concerns that Syria is meddling in the conflict as fighting moves closer to Iraq's western neighbor. The U.S. has accused Syria of providing refuge for top members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party -- following earlier claims that it supplied high-tech gear to Iraqi troops.

The artillery shells, which have fallen in southern Iraq in recent days and didn't cause any casualties, may have been aimed at anti-Tehran fighters who take refuge in Iraq, U.S. officials say. U.S. intelligence agencies also have picked up signs of Iranian military equipment moving closer to the border, possibly preparing to attack these so-called Mujahedin-e-Khalq, who were given sanctuary and support by Mr. Hussein.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats have begun maneuvering close to U.S. Navy special-operations boats operating on the Shat al Arab waterway that divides Iraq and Iran near the Persian Gulf, officials said. Some of the Iranian crews have been observed removing covers from deck guns and revving their engines as they draw alongside, Navy officials say. U.S. naval forces have been ordered not to fire unless first engaged by the Iranians, and several U.S. patrol boats have withdrawn rather than escalate the confrontations, military officers say.

"They have been approaching our folks in a somewhat menacing manner," said Vice Adm. Timothy Keating, the senior U.S. naval commander in the Persian Gulf. "We have let them know it's a bad idea to continue that activity."

In fact, the U.S. has taken steps to woo the Iranians and ease Tehran's worries. In recent days, U.S. aircraft have struck Mujahedin targets, including Iraqi-supplied armored vehicles, in camps in eastern Iraq where the group's forces are based. U.S. ground forces are moving into previously bypassed areas of eastern Iraq, and bombing Mujahedin sites and destroying armored vehicles that could threaten these troops, military officials say. But this also could be aimed at reassuring Iran that the U.S. intends to eliminate the opposition forces, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group.

British diplomats have met in recent days with Iranian officials in Tehran in hopes of defusing the growing tensions. Iranian Foreign Ministry officials said the artillery salvos into Iraq weren't ordered at senior levels of the regime and that steps would be taken to prevent a recurrence, an official familiar with the discussions said.

For their part, the Iranians have complained about at least two U.S. missiles that have landed accidentally in Iran since the beginning of the war. And they have asked for assurances that the U.S. interdiction force on the Shat al Arab won't impede Iranian vessels.

Unlike the U.S., Britain has diplomatic relations with Tehran. The Bush administration has since before the war worked through the English to assure Iranians that they shouldn't feel threatened by the presence of a large U.S. military force in Iraq.

But analysts suggest Tehran probably feels a need to step up its vigilance along the border to ensure that fighting doesn't spill over, and to signal Washington that, as the power increasingly holding sway in Iraq, it should bring Iranian opposition forces there under control. "They're very, very nervous," says James Bill, an Iran expert at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va. "They want the U.S. to understand that this is a terrorist organization, operating out of Iraq."

Officials say that assuaging Iranian concerns is important because both London and Washington hope Iran will permit Western aid groups to bring supplies through its territory into Iraq. That request has been renewed in recent days, and Iranian officials have responded that they are still studying the war.

On the Syrian front, Maj. Gen. Gene Renuart of the U.S. Central Command said U.S. special-operations troops were battling Iraqi forces around Qaim, a town near the Syrian border. He said the area contains a "substantial presence" of Iraqi special guard, paramilitary forces and regular army units.

Gen. Renuart's comments came one day after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Syria of helping Baath Party leaders escape and providing them with refuge. Mr. Rumsfeld said Syria ignored his prior warning not to meddle in the conflict, after he accused the country of supplying night-vision goggles to Iraqi troops.

Thursday, Syria called for an end to the "occupation" of Iraq, but didn't respond to U.S. accusations that it is helping Hussein supporters flee. American officials say intelligence reports aren't clear on which or how many Iraqi officials might have fled to Syria.