US President George W. Bush directly linked Tehran to roadside bombings against US forces in Iraq, stepping up his criticisms of Iran amid a tense standoff over its nuclear program. "Tehran has been responsible for at least some of the increasing lethality of anti-coalition attacks by providing Shia militia with the capability to build improvised explosive devices in Iraq," Bush said in a speech.
He cited recent congressional testimony from John Negroponte, the US director of national intelligence.
The president's comments came as he launched a public relations offensive to bolster support for the war in Iraq some three years after he ordered the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Bush also charged that "some of the most powerful IEDs we are seeing in Iraq today include components that came from Iran."
"Coalition forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in Iran. Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran," he said.
"And America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats," said the president, who has previously accused Iran of trying to stir up violence in Iraq.
The US military has said in the past that advanced roadside bombs with shaped armor-penetrating explosives and sophisticated triggering devices have been turning up in Iraq.
US military intelligence sources said the weapons have been traced to Iran's Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon.
Last week, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directly accused the Islamic government in Tehran for the first time of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard into Iraq to make trouble.
