Iran's Hand in Iraq

The logical question is pretty simple. At what point do we step up and put a stop to this? If a troop increase is going to come to fruition, they will need to deal with the Iranian influence.

Newly obtained intelligence reports indicate Iran is increasing its efforts to destabilize Iraq just as President Bush is reviewing his policy options.

While Mr. Bush is looking at changing key military and political personnel and is considering deploying 20,000 to 40,000 additional U.S. troops in a last-ditch effort to try and impose security in the chaos that Iraq has become, new intelligence reveals Iran may have other plans.

"Al-Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards is stepping up terrorism and encouraging sectarian violence in Iraq," says Alireza Jafarzadeh, president of Strategic Policy Consulting in Washington, an Iranian dissident who keeps close contact with the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MeK. It was Mr. Jafarzadeh who first revealed the existence of the Islamic Republic's clandestine nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak in August 2002.

"There is a sharp surge in Iran's sponsorship of terrorism and sectarian violence in the past few months," said Mr. Jafarzadeh at a conference organized by the Iran Policy Committee, a lobby group pushing to get the MeK off the State Department's terrorist list. Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Thomas McInerney, an IPC member, said Mr. Jafarzadeh's presentation was "powerful evidence" that Iran has become the primary killer of U.S. forces in Iraq.

The spike in terror activities in Iraq according to Mr. Jafarzadeh is the work of the al-Quds Force, which the Iranian dissident calls "the deadliest force" within the Revolutionary Guards. Al-Quds Force is responsible for what they call "extraterritorial activities," which Mr. Jafarzadeh says is a euphemism for terrorism.

"Nothing but terrorism," says Mr. Jafarzadeh. "All they do is terrorism. This deadly force has been heavily involved in Iraq."