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US commander in Iraq blames Iran for Green Zone bombings

Mon Mar 24, 7:16 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - The top US commander in Iraq blamed neighbouring Iran for rocket attacks over the weekend on the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, in an interview with the BBC on Monday.

General David Petraeus said that the rockets "were Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets" and added that Iran's actions were "in complete violation of promises made by President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad and the other most senior Iranian leaders to their Iraqi counterparts.

Each of the four attacks on the Green Zone on Sunday, which in total injured at least four people and damaged buildings, sent staff of the US embassy scurrying for the shelter of nearby bunkers, witnesses said.

The attacks in the Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy, occurred around 6:30 am (0330 GMT), 10:30 am, 4.30 pm and 8.30 pm, US embassy officials said.

Asked by the BBC whether it would be bad for Iraq if the United States bombed Iran, Petraeus replied: "That's a question for somebody else, and it's a hypothetical that I never want to discuss."