Iran alleges U.S. link to attack on elite unit

TEHRAN, Iran – Bullet cartridges bearing a U.S. insignia and English lettering were among the weaponry seized last week from Sunni militants suspected of killing 11 members of Shiite-dominated Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, Iranian officials said Sunday.

A photograph of the cartridge box, along with an array of other ammunition, was published by Iranian newspapers and agencies.

The Iranians did not provide access to the weapons and explosives, drawing skepticism from analysts, and there was no way to evaluate the claims independently. But Iran is worried that the United States is quietly helping Iranian opposition groups foment internal instability, even while the Bush administration is directly confronting Iran over its nuclear program and its alleged arming of Shiite militants in Iraq.

The Iranian allegations came a week after U.S. officials laid out what they said was evidence of Iranian-made weaponry in Iraq. That evidence also was inconclusive, and Iran denied supplying arms to Iraqi combatants.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Marine Maj. Rebecca Goodrich-Hinton, said Sunday that officials had no comment in response to the allegations from Tehran.

Iranian officials in the southeastern region of Sistan-Baluchestan, where a bus carrying the troops was struck by explosives from a booby-trapped car Wednesday, announced the allegations of U.S. and British involvement in the attack.

Weapons used in the attack, which also wounded 31 people, were U.S. and British-made, an unnamed local official, identified as the political director of the Sistan-Baluchestan province, told the semi-official Fars news agency. “Moreover, the arrested terrorist agents have confessed that they have been trained by English-speaking people,” the official said.

Responsibility for the bus bombing and another explosion the following day was claimed by the Sunni militant group Jundallah, or God’s Brigade, which has been blamed for past attacks on Iranian troops in the region.