Iraq today denied a Western intelligence report that Iran was using civilian aircraft to fly military personnel and weapons across Iraq to Syria.
“The official spokesman of
Iraqi government had denied that issue altogether… There is nothing like this
happening,” said Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamal, Iraq’s Deputy Interior Minister for
Intelligence. (Reuters, 20 September)
On Wednesday, Reuters
reported that according to a Western intelligence report, “Iran has been using civilian
aircraft to fly military personnel and large quantities of weapons across Iraqi
airspace to Syria to aid Syrian President Bashar-Assad in his attempt to crush
an 18-month uprising against his government.”
The
U.S. Treasury on Wednesday listed 117 Iran aircraft belonging to the country’s
Iran Air, Mahan Airlines and Yas Air, for delivering weapons and transporting
military personnel to Syria. The move was seen as pressuring the Iraqi
government to stop the overflights of these aircraft to Syria.
