16 March 2009
United States forces shot down an Iranian drone aircraft that ventured inside Iraq last month, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Monday, an incident that highlights deep U.S.-Iranian tensions.
A U.S. military spokesman said that U.S. jet fighters shot down the unmanned Iranian aircraft on Feb. 25 approximately 60 miles northeast of Baghdad.
"The UAV had been tracked by coalition air forces for nearly 1 hour and 10minutes before it was engaged and shot down well inside Iraqi airspace," he said. The Iranian unmanned plane was identified as Ababil 3 model.
Major-General Abdul Aziz Mohammed Jassim, head of military operations at the Iraqi Defence Ministry, said he believed the plane's entry into Iraq was likely a mistake.
"According to the report received by multinational forces, this drone entered Iraq mistakenly at a point 100 from Baghdad. It crossed 6 miles into Iraq," he said.
"It's most likely that its entrance [into Iraq] was a mistake," he said.
The three weeks of silence from U.S., Iraqi and Iranian officials about the unusual incident underscores the sensitive nature of any contact between Iran and the U.S.
Iranian officials had no immediate comment on the incident.
The U.S. military has long accused Iran of arming militants and meddling in neighboring Iraq, where tens of thousands have died in sectarian violence since the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.
But relations between the government of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iran, a fellow majority Shi'ite nation, are mostly friendly.
In recent months, as violence has dropped sharply across Iraq, U.S. officials have spoken less forcefully about Iran's purported role in Iraq. Tehran denies backing Iraqi militants.
British defense analyst Tim Ripley said the incident was a symptom of ongoing U.S.-Iranian tensions, but said it wouldn't necessarily escalate those strains immediately.
"It's one of those things you put in a file and when things kick off, you wheel it out to support your case," he said.
The United States has about 140,000 troops in Iraq, but combat operations will cease by the end of August 2010 under Obama's withdrawal plan, and all U.S. forces are due to leave the country by the end of 2011.
The coming withdrawal raises doubts about whether local security forces, increasing leading military operations but still reliant on U.S. forces, will be able to stave off the
threat of resurgent violence on their own.
Ripley said that such an incident may be even more sensitive for Iraqi officials than U.S. counterparts, especially among those in the Iraqi government who fear the influence of Iran.
"They will use this as evidence of Iranian plots," he said.
In a shift from the Bush administration, U.S. President Barack Obama, who took office in January, has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from nuclear ambitions to how Iran might assist in Afghanistan.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he also is open to talks with Washington, but demands fundamental changes to U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Underlying U.S.-Iranian tensions is Iran's nuclear program, which Washington believes is aimed at building atomic weapons. Iran insists it seeks only power generation.
United States forces shot down an Iranian drone aircraft that ventured inside Iraq last month, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Monday, an incident that highlights deep U.S.-Iranian tensions.
A U.S. military spokesman said that U.S. jet fighters shot down the unmanned Iranian aircraft on Feb. 25 approximately 60 miles northeast of Baghdad.
"The UAV had been tracked by coalition air forces for nearly 1 hour and 10minutes before it was engaged and shot down well inside Iraqi airspace," he said. The Iranian unmanned plane was identified as Ababil 3 model.
Major-General Abdul Aziz Mohammed Jassim, head of military operations at the Iraqi Defence Ministry, said he believed the plane's entry into Iraq was likely a mistake.
"According to the report received by multinational forces, this drone entered Iraq mistakenly at a point 100 from Baghdad. It crossed 6 miles into Iraq," he said.
"It's most likely that its entrance [into Iraq] was a mistake," he said.
The three weeks of silence from U.S., Iraqi and Iranian officials about the unusual incident underscores the sensitive nature of any contact between Iran and the U.S.
Iranian officials had no immediate comment on the incident.
The U.S. military has long accused Iran of arming militants and meddling in neighboring Iraq, where tens of thousands have died in sectarian violence since the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.
But relations between the government of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iran, a fellow majority Shi'ite nation, are mostly friendly.
In recent months, as violence has dropped sharply across Iraq, U.S. officials have spoken less forcefully about Iran's purported role in Iraq. Tehran denies backing Iraqi militants.
British defense analyst Tim Ripley said the incident was a symptom of ongoing U.S.-Iranian tensions, but said it wouldn't necessarily escalate those strains immediately.
"It's one of those things you put in a file and when things kick off, you wheel it out to support your case," he said.
The United States has about 140,000 troops in Iraq, but combat operations will cease by the end of August 2010 under Obama's withdrawal plan, and all U.S. forces are due to leave the country by the end of 2011.
The coming withdrawal raises doubts about whether local security forces, increasing leading military operations but still reliant on U.S. forces, will be able to stave off the
threat of resurgent violence on their own.
Ripley said that such an incident may be even more sensitive for Iraqi officials than U.S. counterparts, especially among those in the Iraqi government who fear the influence of Iran.
"They will use this as evidence of Iranian plots," he said.
In a shift from the Bush administration, U.S. President Barack Obama, who took office in January, has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from nuclear ambitions to how Iran might assist in Afghanistan.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he also is open to talks with Washington, but demands fundamental changes to U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Underlying U.S.-Iranian tensions is Iran's nuclear program, which Washington believes is aimed at building atomic weapons. Iran insists it seeks only power generation.
