Iraqi insurgents using Austrian rifles from Iran

Discussion in 'Firearms' started by E.L., Feb 13, 2007.


  1. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Iraqi insurgents using Austrian rifles from Iran

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...FF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/02/13/wiran13.xml

    By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent

    Last Updated: 11:55am GMT 13/02/2007



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    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Audio: Revelation makes US action against Iran more likely, says Thomas Harding Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
    More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.
    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=328 align=right border=0 hspace="0"><TBODY><TR><TD width=8 rowSpan=2> </TD><TD width=320><CENTER>[​IMG]</CENTER></TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption><CENTER>The Steyr HS50 is a long range, high precision rifle</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.
    The sale was condemned in Washington and London because officials were worried that the weapons would be used by insurgents against British and American troops.
    Within 45 days of the first HS50 Steyr Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, an American officer in an armoured vehicle was shot dead by an Iraqi insurgent using the weapon.
    Over the last six months American forces have found small caches of the £10,000 rifles but in the last 24 hours a raid in Baghdad brought the total to more than 100, US defence sources reported.
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    The find is the latest in a series of discoveries that indicate that Teheran is providing support to Iraq's Shia insurgents.
    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, yesterday denied that Iran had supplied weapons to Iraqi insurgents. But on Sunday US officials in Baghdad displayed a range of weapons they claimed had originated in Iran.
    They said 170 American and British soldiers had been killed by such weapons.
    The discovery of the sniper rifles will further encourage those in Washington who want to see Iran's uranium-enriching facilities destroyed before a nuclear weapon is produced.
    The Foreign Office expressed "serious concerns" over the sale of the rifles last year and Britain protested to the Austrian government.
    A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "Although we did make our worries known the sale unfortunately went ahead and now the potential that these weapons could fall into the wrong hands appears to have happened."
    The rifle can pierce all body armour from up to a mile and penetrate armoured Humvee troop carriers.
    It is highly accurate and fires a round called an armour piercing incendiary, a bullet that the Iranians manufacture.
    The National Iranian Police Organisation bought the rifles allegedly to use them against drug smugglers in an £8 million order placed with Steyr in 2005.
    The company was given permission to export them by the Austrian government, which is not a Nato member.
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  2. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++

    Hate to be a "conspiracy theorist" here ;) but....

    Now keep in mind I have no problem believing that Iran is helping Iraq, it's just that this sounds to me like one of the batf raids "finding" illegal weapons in someones house to justify the raid/imprisonment. It gives us a reason to go after Iran, which many say, has been planned all along.

    I wish we could just quit playing the games and say "We are at war with the muslims".
     
  3. sniper-66

    sniper-66 Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    No Blackjack, it isn't something we've concocted, the Iranians are here, they are coming here by the thousands as well. They used the Hajj as an excuse to flood this country with thousands of agents. These sonsabitches have to be killed on the spot, no capture and release program, simply execute them or we are going to have real problems soon.
     
  4. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Then don't be the conspiracy theorist. This article was taken from a UK paper, not from some conservative news organization in the U.S. I have read accounts of Iraqi insurrgents and/or Iranian infiltraitors using .50 cals before this, not to mention I have also watched reports of it on TV. This is nothing brand new, irregardless of whether you support the war or not, I believe this is a real threat. I don't want my buddy Sniper-66 getting shot at with a .50 cal., nor any of our soldiers. It is documented that Iran received the rifles, and now they are being used in Iraq. They are a threat. Am I saying hit Tehran now? Not necessarily, but I do recognize them as a threat, and think that any found in Iraq should be eliminated.
     
  5. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++

    Don't get me wrong Sniper and EL, I have no problem believing it's a real threat either. I'm not saying it IS a framejob, I'm just saying it does sound like one though. Perhaps I've just become too cynical and distrusting of the media and the govt, eh? But at this point can you blame me? We get lied to an awful lot.

    And saying I am skeptical of the report in no way would suggest I don't care what happens to Sniper over there. My best wishes are with Sniper, even though I only know him from this board, I don't want any more of our guys shot up.


    Now that I think about it.... For me to suggest that we would get false reports from the brits about weapons in an arab country..... preposterous huh? wmd




    My apologies for stepping on a tender subject..... sincerely.
     
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