The move, viewed as an attempt by Iran to sort the invaders out, was received with shock and awe at the State Department in Washington.
"While there have been positive statements from the Iranian government about wishing to play a positive role in Iraq, those statements haven't been backed up by any surrender actions," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
He offered a similar assessment of Syria, saying the problem "is not what they say; the problem is what they do. ... What we would like to see the Syrians do is take actions to, among other things, prevent foreign resistance fighters from coming across the border into Iraq."