Iraq denies helping Iraq ship arms to Syria

Iraq on Thursday denied a Western intelligence report that said Iranian aircraft had flown weapons and military personnel over Iraqi airspace to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad battle an 18-month-old uprising.

The allegation, reported by Reuters on Wednesday, said arms transfers were organized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Although charges that Iraq has allowed Iran to send arms to Syria are not new, the report said the extent of such shipments is far greater and more systematic than has been publicly acknowledged, thanks to a deal between senior Iraqi and Iranian officials.

The report also said Iran was dispatching trucks overland via Iraq westwards to Syria. “Iraq has confirmed that it will never be involved or helping or allowing any shipment via its air space or land to Syria,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

He said Iraq was “ready to be part of regional and international efforts or measures to stop the shipping of equipment or personnel to both sides in Syria”. Syria's upheaval is politically tricky for Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim-led government. Close to Assad's ally, Shi'ite Iran, Baghdad has resisted joining Western and fellow Arab calls for the Syrian leader to step down while also calling for a reform process in Syria.

Iraqi leaders fear Assad's fall would fracture Syria along sectarian lines and yield a hostile, hardline Sunni Muslim regime that could stir up Iraq's volatile Sunni-Shi'ite mix. Baghdad has reinforced key points along its 680-km (420-mile) desert border with Syria. Iraqi leaders fear Assad's fall would fracture Syria along sectarian lines and yield a hostile, hardline Sunni Muslim regime that could stir up Iraq's volatile Sunni-Shi'ite mix.

Baghdad has reinforced key points along its 680-km (420-mile) desert border with Syria.
U.S. officials said earlier this month they were questioning Iraq about Iranian flights in Iraqi air space. On Wednesday, U.S. Senator John Kerry threatened to review U.S. aid to Baghdad if it does not halt such overflights to Syria.