MESOP NEWS : US Consul: US Doesn’t Block Security Assistance to Kurds – The US has provided AT-4 anti-tank systems to Peshmerga, says US envoy in Erbil

Basnews – 05.07.2015 ERBIL – US Consul Joseph Pennington on Thursday denied that the United States is hindering the delivery of security assistance to Kurdish Peshmerga forces.He was responding to reports that the US has blocked weapon deliveries from Arab Gulf countries.“The Peshmerga have shown great courage in the fight against ISIL [Islamic State (IS)], and have received strong support from the US and the coalition,” he tweeted.

“Suggestions that the US is blocking security assistance to the Peshmerga are false. The US has provided AT-4 anti-tank systems to the Peshmerga, as well as MRAPS and mine rollers. Customs clearances of weapons deliveries to the KRG are completed quickly and efficiently in Baghdad,” he said on Twitter.“Deliveries of assistance to Erbil are coordinated with Baghdad, but the central government has not blocked any deliveries to the KRG,” he stated. “Significant deliveries of assistance to the Peshmerga – ammunition, machine guns, mortars, radios, vehicles – will continue. The US and coalition have supplied huge amounts of ammunition, equipment and weapons to support the Peshmerga in the fight,” he added. “And of course, many of the 2,800 coalition airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq have been in support of Peshmerga forces,” he said. On Thursday, the Telegraph reported that the US had blocked attempts by its Middle East allies to fly heavy weapons directly to the Kurds fighting IS in Iraq.