'Big questions remain about U.S. evidence against Iran'

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Even though U.S. officials say they have gathered the most detailed evidence so far of Iranian involvement in training and arming fighters in Iraq, significant uncertainties remain about the extent of that involvement and the threat it may pose to U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Some intelligence and administration officials said Iran seemed to have carefully calibrated its involvement in Iraq over the past year, in contrast to what President George W. Bush and other U.S. officials have publicly portrayed as an intensified Iranian role. . . .

It remains difficult to draw firm conclusions about the ebb and flow of Iranian arms into Iraq, and the Bush administration has not produced its most recent evidence. But interviews with more than two dozen military, intelligence and administration officials showed that while shipments of arms had continued in recent months despite an official Iranian pledge to stop the weapons flow, they had not necessarily increased. Most of those interviewed for this article spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were discussing intelligence assessments and potential military operations. . . .

For weeks, Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the top U.S. officials in Iraq have portrayed Iran as a significant and growing threat to the U.S. war effort in Iraq. In particular, they have cited an intensified barrage of Iranian-made rockets hitting the Green Zone in Baghdad that have killed Americans and Iraqis.

Two weeks ago, Bush cited Iran as a primary justification in his announcement that he would halt further withdrawals of U.S. troops in Iraq after the level reaches 140,000 this summer. He said a U.S. withdrawal "would embolden its radical leaders and fuel their ambitions to dominate the region." . . .

The administration's focus on Iran has raised alarms among war critics, who accuse the White House of overstating the threat and laying the groundwork for military action against Iran just as it did against Iraq.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who has called for opening talks with Iran, said that while she believed that there was evidence that Iran was aiding Shiite militias, she worried about the tenor of the administration's latest warnings.

"This is not a new thing," she said of Iran's involvement. "Why all of a sudden do the sabers start to rattle?" . . .