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Iran Says Arch-Foe U.S. Seeks Tehran's Help in Iraq

Wed Apr 14, 2004
Reuters, USA

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said Wednesday that the United States has sought its help in tackling increasingly bitter violence in Iraq.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the calls from Iran's arch foe had come through the Swiss Embassy, which has covered U.S. interests in Tehran since Washington broke ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"Naturally, there are demands by Americans through the Swiss Embassy that we help to resolve the crisis in Iraq. And we are acting," he said.

Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr began fighting U.S.-led occupying forces in south and central Iraq this month after U.S. forces closed the cleric's newspaper, said he was wanted for murder and detained his top aide.

The U.S. military has branded Sadr an outlaw and pledged to kill or capture the cleric, who has taken refuge near Najaf's Imam Ali shrine, sacred to the world's Shi'ite Muslims.

Hundreds of Iraqis and scores of foreign troops have died in the recent clashes in Iraq, including dozens of Americans, making April the deadliest month for the U.S. military since Saddam was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion force a year ago.

Shi'ite Iran's most senior leaders have been keen to distance themselves from the uprising of Sadr supporters.

Kharrazi stressed Iran was not meddling in the internal affairs of its neighbor as some in Washington have suggested.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters, held Washington responsible for the recent turmoil in Iraq.

"It is evident the occupiers' (U.S.-led forces) crimes ... have triggered Iraqi people's reaction," Khamenei said in a speech, broadcast live on state radio.

Khamenei also accused Washington of trying to impose a flawed vision of democracy in Iraq that was doomed.

"America's measures in Iraq are destined to fail and Americans have to leave Iraq shamefully sooner or later," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4823829&section=news