U.S. operations in Iran

[Dylith]

US congressional leaders have agreed to a presidential request for up to $400 million in funding for covert operations against Iran, according to a report in the New Yorker magazine.
Previous cross-border operations have included the capture of Iranian security officers and the backing of anti-Tehran armed groups, said the report by Seymour Hersh, the investigative reporter.

The operations have been taking place since last year, the article said.

Bush's request, made through a Presidential Finding document, was approved by US congressional leaders, including Democrats, late last year, the report said.
Cross-border US operations against Iran include seizing members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and taking them across the border to Iraq for interrogation, the report said.
But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the CIA, have now been significantly expanded, the New Yorker said, citing current and former officials.

The operations also include providing support to armed Sunni Muslim groups opposed to the Iranian government, which is Shia.
Among groups inside Iran benefiting from US support is the Jundallah, also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, according to Robert Baer, a former CIA officer cited by the article.
Vali Nasr, an Iran analyst, told Hersh that the group was a vicious organisation suspected of links to al-Qaeda.
The article said US support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene.

Al Jazeera English - Americas - US 'escalates covert Iran missions'

I remember reading about Iran accusing the US of funding rebel fighters within the country before and now there is this article.

I'm not sure what to think, but it certainly seems possible. The regional Sunnis (Al Qaeda included) are a bit hostile towards Iran at the moment due to their funding of Shia groups within Iraq. Al Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq has even threatened Iran with holy war if the country did not supplying the Shiite militias.

Seems like the fighting is spilling over into Iran a bit now and with our help.

But the group also heavily operates in Pakistan which is already suffering from domestic fighting both in tribal regions such as warziristan and due to Taliban spillover from Afghanistan.

The question is, is this something that the United States should be doing?

We claim to be fighting a war on terror, but it would seem that we are funding a terrorist group (they have been deemed as such by both Pakistan and Iran) and one with suspected links to Al Qaeda at that.

Even if we ignore this fact helping the Judallah may hurt Iran, but it also hurts and helps to destabalize Pakistan, which is currently in desperate need of stability (it wasn't to long ago that Pakistan was under a state of emergency).

[Phantom]

I wouldn't disagree to ALL covert operations in Iran, but I think we need to be extremely careful with what we do and who we work with.

I also recommend not visiting Iran on a U.S. passport with this news public.

[C4Casey]

I'm really skeptical of the authenticity of this. I mean, I'm sure we're doing some secret stuff in Iran, but it's just that, secret. I doubt we would let information like this out into the public. Either this article is making assumptions based on secret military funding dollars (which is public information), or someone leaked classified material and should be spending a long stay in jail.