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http://newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/2612130p-11074052c.htmlDutton contradicts U.S. on Iran-Iraq ties
WASHINGTON (AP) - The commander of British-led forces in southeastern Iraq said Friday that concerns about Iranian efforts to influence events in Iraq are based more on speculation than on facts.
The remark by Maj. Gen. Jim B. Dutton of the British Royal Marines contrasted with criticisms of Iran by U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who have said repeatedly that Iran is interfering in Iraq's internal affairs.
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"There's no question but that Iran is a problem for Iraq as well in terms of their developing a reasonably representative system," Rumsfeld told the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
"The last thing the Iranians want is to see Iraq succeed as a democracy, as a representative system, as a moderate state. It's exactly in conflict with the situation in Iran, which has a small handful of clerics who run the country," the secretary said.
Dutton, speaking by telephone from Basra, told reporters at the Pentagon that he doubts most Iraqis in the southeastern part of the country would favor an Iranian-style theocracy.
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