BBC - US special forces 'inside Iran'

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Mon, 17 Jan 2005 02:47:13 -0800 (PST)

BBC - US special forces 'inside Iran'

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4180087.stm

 

 

 

US special forces 'inside Iran'

 

Iran says its military is prepared for a US strike on

its nuclear sites US commandos are operating inside Iran selecting

sites for future air strikes, says the American

investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.

 

 

In the New Yorker magazine, Hersh says intelligence

officials have revealed that Iran is the Bush

administration's " next strategic target " .

 

Hersh says that American special forces have conducted

reconnaissance missions inside Iran for six months.

 

But the White House has described his article as

" riddled with inaccuracies " .

 

Potential targets include nuclear sites and missile

installations, he says.

 

The New Yorker journalist adds that President Bush has

authorised the operations, defining them as military

to avoid legal restrictions on CIA covert intelligence

activities overseas.

 

They constitute a revival of a form of covert US

military activity used in the 1980s, notably in

support of the Nicaraguan Contras.

 

'Working with Pakistan'

 

The task force has been penetrating eastern Iran from

Afghanistan and leaving remote detection devices known

as sniffers capable of testing for radioactive

emissions in the atmosphere, Hersh says.

 

He reports as well that American special forces units

have been authorised to conduct covert operations in

as many as 10 nations in the Middle East and South

Asia.

 

He quotes one senior intelligence official as saying a

force in Pakistan is working with scientists who have

had dealings with Iranian colleagues.

 

But the price for co-operation, the official said, was

a US assurance that Islamabad would not have to hand

over AQ Khan, the father of the Pakistani nuclear

programme who last year admitted to illegally

transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and

Libya.

 

'Riddled with inaccuracies'

 

Hersh bases his claims on anonymous sources, including

former intelligence officials and consultants with

links to the Pentagon.

 

One such consultant is quoted as saying that the

civilians in the Pentagon wanted to go into Iran and

destroy as much of the military infrastructure as

possible.

 

There have also been calls from Pentagon hawks to use

a limited attack on Iran to topple the country's

religious leadership, one of Hersh's sources said.

 

The article has already drawn fire from the White

House: the communications director, Dan Bartlett,

called it " riddled with inaccuracies " .

 

" I don't believe that some of the conclusions he's

drawing are based on fact, " Mr Bartlett added.

 

He said the diplomatic approach was still the

priority.

 

" No president, at any juncture in history has ever

taken military options off the table, " he said. " But

what President Bush has shown is that he believes we

can emphasize the diplomatic initiatives that are

under way right now. "

 

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that while

Hersh could be wrong he has a series of scoops to his

name, including the details of the Abu Ghraib prison

abuse scandal last year.

 

His track record suggests that he should be taken

seriously, our correspondent says.

 

 

 

 

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