Gates says Tehran is aiding Taliban
The size of the weapons shipments indicates that Iran's government is involved, he said.
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates tied Iran's government to large shipments of weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan and said yesterday that such quantities were unlikely without Tehran's knowledge.
His comments, after accusations by a State Department official, were the strongest yet by a cabinet secretary about Iran's support of the Taliban.
Basing his conclusions on new intelligence, Gates said that "given the quantities that we're seeing, it is difficult to believe that it is associated with smuggling or the drug business or that it's taking place without the knowledge of the Iranian government."
He said that the latest information indicated a "fairly substantial flow of weapons" was crossing into Afghanistan.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN yesterday that "there's irrefutable evidence the Iranians are now doing this."
"It's coming from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government," he said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that "it certainly is hard to believe that the Iranian government isn't involved in some way, shape or form in this."
Gates and other defense officials would not go as far as Burns did. The Pentagon chief also said he was not as certain about the link to Iran's Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
Gates made his comments to reporters during a visit to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He stopped at the base to visit injured troops and awarded six Purple Heart medals to wounded service members.