Current reporting seems to point to an Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortar, IRAM, as the likely projectile that brought down the Chinook on August 6. If accurate, this lends more credence to the suspicion of Iran as having a role in this attack. The use of IRAMs, sometimes called "flying IEDs", was brought to the fore by The Long War Journal: the IRAM looks to be a large canister, perhaps a propane or fuel tank, filled with explosives and propelled by 107mm rocket booster. These types of improvised weapons -- essentially flying IEDs -- would have a short range and would be highly inaccurate. Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/06/mahdi_army_uses_flyi.php . If accurate, this news strengthens the argument for Iranian involvement. The IRAMs used in Iraq are thought to be Iranian made and a favorite of the Mahdi Army led by Moqtada al-Sadr, whose ties to Iran are well known.
As an aside for those interested in wordplay, Iram means Heaven in Arabic (Eram in Persian), and often refers to a garden near Shiraz, Iran. Iram is also a popular name today and in the Qu'ran was a grandson of the Prophet Nuh and founded the city of 'Ad sometimes known as the Atlantis of the Sands
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