IRAN:Iran has rejected US accusations that it is arming Shia militias in Iraq with sophisticated roadside bombs capable of piercing armour.
The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran opposed all military conflict within Iraq and claimed that the US was seeking to divert attention from its own failure.
"Our position for Iraq is very clear. We are asking for peace, we are asking for security, and we will be sad to see people get killed, no matter who they are.
"I think that Americans have made a mistake in Iraq and unfortunately are losing, and this is a shame for Americans of course and that's why they are trying to point their fingers to other people," he said.
He was speaking a day after US officials in Baghdad displayed weapons they claimed had been smuggled into Iraq from Iran and had killed more than 170 US and allied soldiers since June 2004. The devices, known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), are canisters that shoot out molten balls of copper that cut through armour.
Three anonymous US officials claimed that the weapons were smuggled into Iraq under the direction of "the highest levels of the Iranian government" - although they offered no evidence to support the assertion.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iran was not intervening in Iraq and was opposed to any action that weakened the Iraqi government. "Such accusations cannot be relied upon or be presented as evidence. The United States has a long history in fabricating evidence. Such charges are unacceptable."
Reporters who attended the Baghdad briefing expressed scepticism about the US claims, noting that no diplomats or Central Intelligence Agency officials were present. Others questioned why the authorities were making the claims now, more than two years after the first EFPs with Iranian markings were discovered.
Democratic senator and 2008 presidential candidate Chris Dodd said the White House could be attempting to lay the groundwork for an attack on Iran. "I'm worried about that. That's how we got into the mess in Iraq."
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the administration is confident that the weapons are being supplied by the Iranian government, but he denied that the claims were part of a propaganda campaign against Iran.
Mr Ahmadinejad said he had little fear that the US will attack Iran, despite a recent build-up of US forces in the Persian Gulf.
"Why should we be afraid? First the possibility is very low, and we think that there are wise people in the US that would stop such illegal actions, but our position is clear. Our nation has made it clear that anyone who wants to attack our country will be severely punished," he said.