International

U.S. Intel Alleges Iran Smuggling Bombs into Iraq

By Liane Hansen, Jamie Tarabay

Published February 11, 2007 at 7:55 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

U.S. intelligence alleges that the Iranian government may be supporting the smuggling of high-tech roadside bombs into Iraq.

In a Baghdad briefing Sunday, a senior intelligence officer showed reporters fragments of what he said were Iranian-made weapons that found their way into the hands of Shiite militias. He also said there has been a substantial increase in sophisticated bombs and believes that the orders to provide them came from the "highest levels" of the Iranian government.

The officer said that between June 2004 and last week, more than 170 Americans had been killed by the bombs, which the military calls "explosively formed projectiles."

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International

Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.

Jamie Tarabay

After reporting from Iraq for two years as NPR's Baghdad Bureau Chief, Jamie Tarabay is now embarking on a two year project reporting on America's Muslims. The coverage will take in the country's approx 6 million Muslims, of different ethnic, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and the issues facing their daily lives as Americans.