March 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today accused Iran of sending its Revolutionary Guards into Iraq to foment violence.

Rumsfeld declined to give details, but his statement marked the first time he's said these forces are in Iraq. When asked if the infiltration is backed by Iran's central government, he said ``of course'' and added: ``The Revolutionary Guard doesn't go milling around willy-nilly.''

Iran is ``putting people into Iraq to do things that are harmful to the future of Iraq,'' Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference. The action is one Iran ``will look back on as having been an error in judgment,'' he said.

Rumsfeld's charge came as the U.S. continues to confront Iran about its nuclear program. Vice President Dick Cheney in a speech today warned that ``the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences'' unless Iran freezes all enrichment activities and keeps its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was established by decree in 1979 to guard clerics and help them in the day-to-day enforcement of the government's strict Islamic codes and morality, according to a description on the Federation of American Scientists web site.

Iran's ruling Shiite clergy have close ties to Iraq's Shia leaders who are struggling to hold the country together amid sectarian violence and warnings of civil war. Iran's interest is to insure that a democracy isn't installed next door to its fundamentalist Islamic republic.

`Lethal Aid'

Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Michael Maples told the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 28 that ``Tehran maintains relationships with numerous Iraq Shia faction,'' who comprise 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million population.

Maples said the Pentagon believes ``Iran has provided lethal aid to the Iraqi Shia insurgents.''

U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte that day elaborated on that point.

``Tehran has been responsible for at least some of the increasing lethality'' against the coalition by providing Shia militants with the capability to build improvised roadside bombs with ``explosively formed projectiles'' capable of penetrating the thickest U.S. vehicle armor,'' Negroponte said.

Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism and Mideast analyst for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, said Rumsfeld ``appears to be indicating that Revolutionary Guard agents, rather than organized units, are crossing the border into Iraq to help Iraqi Shiite militias, such as the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr, build up their capabilities.''

``The assistance is detrimental to U.S. interests because it is likely augmenting the capabilities of Iraqi Shiite militias to conduct acts of retribution against Sunnis, such as we have seen over thee past two weeks,'' he said.

``It can be argued that the Iran-backed militias are leading Iraq down the slope toward civil war,'' Katzman said.

Editor: Schmick

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 7, 2006 15:02 EST