British SAS Raiding Into Iran?

When I read stories like this, I find myself wondering a couple of things. Is it true or is it deliberate misinformation is one thing. The other one is, if the story is true, why is the media putting their own troops at risk? The Times of London is reporting that British Special Air Services troops are conducting raids into Iran to stop arms smuggling.

BRITISH special forces have crossed into Iran several times in recent months as part of a secret border war against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Al-Quds special forces, defence sources have disclosed.

There have been at least half a dozen intense firefights between the SAS and arms smugglers, a mixture of Iranians and Shi’ite militiamen.

The unreported fighting straddles the border between Iran and Iraq and has also involved the Iranian military firing mortars into Iraq. UK commanders are concerned that Iran is using a militia ceasefire to step up arms supplies in preparation for an offensive against their base at Basra airport.

An SAS squadron is carrying out operations along the Iranian border in Maysan and Basra provinces with other special forces, the Australian SAS and American special-operations troops.

They are patrolling the border, ambushing arms smugglers bringing in surface-to-air missiles and components for roadside bombs. “Last month, they were involved in six significant contacts, which killed 17 smugglers and recovered weapons, explosives and missiles,” a source said. It was not clear if any of the dead were Iranian.

Last week, Bob Ainsworth, the armed forces minister, said the Ministry of Defence was unable to say whether British troops had killed or captured any Iranians in Iraq. The ministry declined to comment, but privately officials insisted British troops never carry out hot pursuit across the border.

Obviously, weapons are getting into Iraq and there are only a few countries they can come from. Iran and Syria are the prime suspects. Given the political structures of both countries, the likelihood of such smuggling operations being conducted without government knowledge and sanction is rather low. Stories like this have been used in the past to send a message to the government involved in the problem that they are on notice that they have been caught. This story sounds like such a warning.