US General: No Iranian Military in Venezuela http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/us-general-no-iranian-military-in-venezuela/19455818

Despite a recent Pentagon report warning that Iran's elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is increasing its presence in Venezuela, a senior US military official told reporters today that Iran's influence in the region is focused primarily on diplomatic and commercial goals rather than military interests. "We see a growing interest [and] engagement with Venezuela," Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, the head of US Southern Command, said of Iran's influence in the region.

But, he added, there was "no evidence" of military ties between the two countries. "It's a diplomatic, a commercial presence."Fraser's remarks, made this morning to a group of journalists in Washington, D.C., follow last week's more alarmist view presented in report delivered to Congress on Iran's military power. That unclassified Pentagon report warned of the growing presence of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Qods Force in the region.

"It is well established in the Middle East and Africa," the report says of the Qods Force, "and recent years have witnesses and increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.The report, however, did not specify what the Qods Force was doing in the region. But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used the report as an opportunity to lash out against Washington. "Tell me this isn't an open threat by the government of the United States against Venezuela once again using infamy and lies," he said, according to Reuters.