Wednesday 2 July 2008

White House mum on alleged coverts ops in Iran

AFP
Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The White House declined to comment Monday on a news report that US lawmakers last year approved 400 million dollars to ramp up covert operations in Iran to undermine Tehran’s leadership.

“I couldn’t comment either way,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said after The New Yorker magazine reported tat the US Congress passed US President George W. Bush’s funding request for a dramatic increase in such secret operations.

Asked about the likelihood of US military action against Tehran’s disputed nuclear program before the president leaves office in January 2009, Perino said Bush “is singularly focused on trying to solve this issue diplomatically.”

The New Yorker, which cited former military, intelligence and congressional souces, said the funding revealed a “major escalation” in clandestine operations aimed at destabilizing the Islamic republic’s religious leadership amid concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
FULL ARTICLE @ AFP

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