U.S. commander says Iran not involved in hostilities in Iraq

PARIS (IRNA) -- The U.S. commander in Iraq’s central province of Diyala has said he has witnessed no hostile act from the Iranian side in the region over the past 10 months, a French weekly reported on Monday.

The Paris-based magazine Le Point quoted Colonel Ronald Ward as saying that during his ten-month stay in the Iraqi province he had witnessed no preparation of the U.S. military forces for carrying out a border operation.

Despite the U.S. media reports, the American troops have not been preparing to carry out any military operation along border areas in this central province, the U.S. colonel stressed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. intelligence official in Diyala has strongly rejected any relationship between Iran and the terrorist group of Al-Qaeda.

Brigadier-General Scott Pettinger said what he saw in that province was completely contradictory to what being claimed by Washington against Iran.

Pettinger said that no Iranian agent has ever been arrested in Diyala.

He also said no cases of transferring money or weapon from Iran to Iraq has ever been witnessed in the region.

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