|
| Displaced civilians from Ramadi wait to receive humanitarian aid from the United Nations in a camp in the town of Amiriyat al-Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 22, 2015. The United Nations World Food Program said it is rushing food assistance into Anbar to help tens of thousands of residents who have fled Ramadi after it was taken by Islamic State militant group. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Iran has entered the fight to retake a major Iraqi oil refinery
from Islamic State militants, contributing small numbers of troops -
including some operating artillery and other heavy weapons - in support
of advancing Iraqi ground forces, U.S. defense officials said Friday.
Two
U.S. defense officials said Iranian forces have taken a significant
offensive role in the Beiji operation in recent days, in conjunction
with Iraqi Shiite militia. The officials were not authorized to discuss
the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
One
official said Iranians are operating artillery, 122mm rocket systems
and surveillance and reconnaissance drones to help the Iraqi
counteroffensive.
The Iranian role was not
mentioned in a new U.S. military statement asserting that Iraqi security
forces, with U.S. help, had managed to establish a land route into the
Beiji refinery compound. The statement Friday by the U.S. military
headquarters in Kuwait said Iraqis have begun reinforcing and
resupplying forces isolated inside the refinery compound.
Iran's
role in Iraq is a major complicating factor for the Obama
administration as it searches for the most effective approach to
countering the Islamic State group. U.S. officials have said they do not
oppose contributions from Iran-supported Iraqi Shiite militias as long
as they operate under the command and control of the Iraqi government.
Friday's
U.S. military statement quoted Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley as saying that
over the past three days Iraqi security forces and federal police have
made "steady, measured progress" in regaining some areas leading to the
Beiji refinery compound, in the face of suicide vehicle-borne bombs and
rocket attacks.
Weidley, chief of staff of the U.S.-led military
headquarters in Kuwait, recently described the oil refinery as a "key
infrastructure and critical crossroads."
The
U.S. statement said Iraqis, enabled by the U.S. and its coalition
partners, have "successfully cleared and established a ground route"
into the refinery to resupply Iraqi troops. It listed U.S. and coalition
contributions as including airstrikes, reconnaissance and the use of
"advise and assist elements."
Asked about the
newly emerging role of Iranian forces in Beiji, the U.S. command in
Kuwait declined to comment directly, citing "operational security
reasons." It added that all forces involved in Beiji are "aligned with
the government of Iraq" and under the control of Iraqi security forces.
Separately,
the Pentagon said Friday that the cost of U.S. military operations in
Iraq and Syria since U.S. airstrikes began in August is $2.44 billion as
of May 7.
IS fighters recently gained
substantial control over the Beiji oil refinery, a strategically
important prize in the battle for Iraq's future and a potential source
of millions of dollars in income for the militants. They also control
the nearby town of Beiji, on the main route from Baghdad to Mosul, along
the Tigris River.
The militants' move on
Beiji largely coincided with its successful offensive in Ramadi, the
capital of Anbar province, last week. Iraqi forces withdrew from Ramadi
on Sunday, leaving behind large numbers of U.S.-supplied vehicles,
including several tanks. The U.S. said Friday that its airstrikes in
Ramadi overnight hit an IS fighting unit, destroying five armored
vehicles, two tanks and other military vehicles, as well as nine
abandoned tanks and other armored vehicles.
Together,
the Ramadi and Beiji losses have fueled criticism of the Obama
administration's Iraq strategy and prompted the White House to authorize
an acceleration of U.S. weapons transfers to Baghdad, including
expedited shipments of 2,000 shoulder-fired missiles for use against
armored suicide vehicles.
Iran had contributed
advisers, training and arms to Iraqi Shiite militias in an attempt to
retake the city of Tikrit in March, but that effort stalled. In April,
after the U.S. joined the effort with airstrikes, Iraqi security forces
and allied Shiite militias succeeded in regaining control of the city.
Tony
Cordesman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, said that while some in Tehran see the advantages
of a Shiite-led Iraqi government that deals equitably with the Sunni
and Kurdish populations in order to achieve national unity, Iranian
hardliners do not.
"At best, they are still
pursuing a policy of competing with the United States for military
influence over the Iraqi military and police, Shiite militias, and even
influence over Iraq's Kurds," Cordesman wrote in an analysis published
Thursday. "At worst - and `at worst' now seems more likely than `at
best' - Iran's leaders are seeking an Iraq where Iran has dominant
influence" after the Islamic State threat has been overcome.
