The US military announced the capture on Saturday of an insurgent leader who was recruiting and training women, including his wife, to wrap themselves in explosives and blow themselves up — the latest sign that Al Qaeda in Iraq plans to keep using women to carry out deadly suicide attacks.

In another development, the military said it had captured a sniper instructor in Baghdad who had been trained by the Iranians. Iran has in the past denied such claims.

On the eve of a visit here by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s state news agency reported that he rejected claims that Iran is fueling violence in Iraq.

In the case of the suicide vests, the military said the man was arrested on Thursday in an operation near the town of Khan Bani Sad, north of Baghdad in Diyala province — still an Al Qaeda hotbed.

A spokesman for American forces said the operation was carried after out after receiving a “high level of intelligence.”