Iran, accused by the United States of helping stoke violence in Iraq, appears to be holding to its pledge to halt the flow of weapons and people across the border, the Iraqi government spokesman said on Saturday.
Iran had also played a role in persuading radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to call a halt to the activities of his Mahdi Army militia, spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters in Baghdad. "Iran is showing more restraint in sending people and weapons to destabilise Iraq," he said, echoing comments by US military commanders in recent weeks. The change came when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Iran in August, Dabbagh said.
"He spoke very frankly with the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) in Mashad. He said Iran had to choose whether to support the (Iraqi) government or any other party." Maliki had then received a pledge from Iranian leaders that they would clamp down on the flow of weapons, money and people across the border. "Everything gives the feeling that Iran is making good on its pledge," Dabbagh said.
Dabbagh added that Iran had influenced Sadr, who is believed to have spent months in Iran earlier this year, to rein in his militiamen - a move which has also played a role in sharply reducing violence levels in Iraq.
"The freezing of the Mahdi Army is evidence of its good intentions," he said. "Iran played a role in this." A deputy corps commander in Iraq, Major General James Simmons, had said on Thursday that Iran appears to be living up to its commitment to Maliki to stop the flow of the weapons into the country.
Senior defence officials in Washington suggested that Simmons' conclusion was overstated, but said there was little doubt that the flow of weapons from Iran to Iraq has slowed or stopped. US military leaders have notably toned down their rhetoric on Iran.
Earlier this month, the military in Iraq released nine Iranians, including two members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards-Qods Force, after deciding they no longer posed a threat or were of intelligence value. Eleven others remain in US custody in Iraq.