Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/iran-denies-u-s-claims-it-is-arming-iraqi-militias Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad denied U.S. claims that his country is supplying arms to Shiite militants in Iraq on Monday. The NewsHour reports on the ongoing battle of words between the United States and Iran as analysts discuss the charges and Iran's response. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JEFFREY BROWN: Road side attacks on the U.S. military have taken a heavy toll in Iraq, and now the U.S. says it has evidence that Iran is providing some of the deadliest weapons: bombs that have killed as many as 170 American troops.Images of so-called "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs, were presented Sunday during an off-camera background briefing by unnamed senior American intelligence officers. The weapons are specifically designed to pierce armor, and the briefers said Iran is sending them to Shia militias.The U.S. military also released photographs of other newly made weapons recently found in Iraq that it says came from Iran. Iranian officials promptly rejected the charges. MOHAMMAD ALI HOSSEINI, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator): Such accusations cannot be relied upon or be presented as evidence. The United States has a long history of fabricating evidence. Such charges are unacceptable. JEFFREY BROWN: Interviewed by ABC News, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gave this view of Iran's goals in Iraq.MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, President of Iran (through translator): Our position regarding 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. JEFFREY BROWN: Today, the State Department responded. SEAN MCCORMACK, State Department Spokesman: The Iranians are up to their eyeballs in this activity, I think very clearly, based on the information that was provided over the weekend in Baghdad. JEFFREY BROWN: As that dispute flared over conventional weapons, there were new twists this weekend on Iran's nuclear program. As Iranians on Sunday celebrated the 28th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, President Ahmadinejad did not make an anticipated announcement that Iran would accelerate its uranium enrichment program. But he again asserted Iran's right to nuclear technology. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD (through translator): The Iranian nation is still determined to continue its nuclear path within the international rules. JEFFREY BROWN: It was a grand show of support for Ahmadinejad and his defiance of the West. But at an international meeting in Munich yesterday, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said his country is ready to talk.Also this weekend, and again today, the Bush administration asserted it was not looking to provoke a war with Iran.