In a press conference to provide an operational update on October 8, 2008, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, Commander Multi-National Division Baghdad, answered questions about special groups connected to Iran:

Q: Sir, I’ll ask you about the Special Groups. You have posted some pictures of these people in Baghdad. The question that is people who connects between al Qaida connection, between al Qaida and Special Groups. Those people who are saying that Iran are supplying al Qaida with weapons. Can you give me some kind of picture about these weapons or where they originated from and how these weapons are affecting security in Baghdad. And how many of these wanted people have fled to Iran from the list you saw on the slide?
MGen Hammond: First the wanted people, as you described, who have fled to Iran. There still remains many of these criminals outside the country here located in places such as Iran. I do know that for a fact. And many of them have communicated their desire to return here to Baghdad. And when they do return, they’ll be detained or they’ll be killed unless they choose to follow the Rule of Law, which is — which is critically important to understand.
As far as the Iranian weaponry, we have, over time, through our — the many, numerous caches that we’ve discovered, have found certain munitions that were clearly manufactured in Iran. Now, how they made their way into Baghdad, that’s — that’s a whole different matter altogether. But the point is we have found weapons that were made in Iran which clearly suggests Iranian influence in matters here. And on a daily basis we continue to work hard to find as many as caches as we can to protect the people here, of Baghdad. Thank you.