Iran has taken advantage of the current unrest in Iraq and moved ballistic missiles into the neighboring country, US intelligence and military officials were quoted as saying.
Asharq al-Awsat cited the officials as explaining that Iran is working on building a hidden arsenal of short-range ballistic missiles, as the US has rebuilt its military presence in the Middle East to counter threats to Washington's interests in the region.
Iraqis "do not want to be led around on a leash by the Iranians," Representative Elissa Slotkin, Democrat of Michigan and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview, according to Asharq al-Awsat.
"But, unfortunately, due to the chaos and confusion in the Iraqi central government, Iran is paradoxically the best poised to take advantage of the grass-roots unrest."
However, the officials did not precisely mention the model of the missiles but said that they could strike Jerusalem from Baghdad.