Iran denies Chalabi spying accusations

AP ^ | 23 May 2004 | Staff

[Grampa Dave]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran acknowledged Sunday it had a strong dialogue with embattled Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, but rejected accusations that he passed classified intelligence to Iran.

Chalabi's long-standing contacts with Iran have left some in the U.S. government suspicious about his intentions. Chalabi has denied allegations he handed over sensitive information to Iran about the U.S. occupation.

His home and offices were raided by Iraqi police backed by American soldiers on Friday, and Chalabi is now mbroiled in a public battle with the U.S.-run occupation authority. He has become a harsh critic of Washington's Iraq policies.

"We had continuous and permanent dialogue with Chalabi and other members of the Iraqi Governing Council," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said at a press conference. "But spying charges are unfounded and baseless. It's not true at all."

"We didn't receive any confidential information from Chalabi or any other member of the Iraqi Governing Council," Asefi said.

American allegations against Chalabi, he said, were an attempt to shift attention from the scandal surrounding the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and Washington's increasing problems in Iraq.

"To overshadow its increasing problems in Iraq and get rid of pressures resulting from the prisoner abuse scandal ... the U.S. is making false accusations," Asefi said.

"In the past months, Americans have said many lies and failed to come up with evidence for their allegations," he said, apparently referring to U.S. accusations that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction, a charge Washington failed to prove.

Asefi also said that Iran has sent a "warning" message to the United States through the Swiss Embassy concerning Washington's actions in Iraq. In the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, Switzerland looks after American interests in Iran.

"The message is one of warning," Asefi said without providing any details. He was responding to a question about whether Iran had sent a message to the United States to protest its policy in neighboring Iraq including damage to Shiite holy shrines there.

Chalabi once was being groomed by the United States as a possible successor to Saddam. However, the U.S. State Department did not share the Pentagon's enthusiasm for him, and Chalabi became a liability after no significant weapons of mass destruction were found in post-war Iraq.

Such weapons were cited by the United States and Britain as the primary justification for the Iraq war, and Chalabi's network of Iraqi exiles in the Iraqi National Congress had provided the Bush administration intelligence reports of their existence.

On Saturday, a senior Iraqi official alleged that Chalabi's security chief, Araz Habib, was wanted by Iraqi and coalition authorities for alleged links to Iran's intelligence service.

Habib, a Shiite Kurd, was being sought under an arrest warrant because "he has relations with the Iranian government" and "works for the Iranian intelligence," the official said in Baghdad on condition of anonymity. Chalabi has defended his aide.

Iran maintains close ties with a variety of Iraqi groups, including Iraq's largest Shiite Muslim group, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, and the two powerful Kurdish groups controlling northern Iraq, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

All three groups, whose leaders sit in the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, have offices in Tehran. Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress is believed to have had an office in Tehran until last year.

[Tailgunner Joe]

"It's the return of the right-wing crazies, crawling their way back," one of Armitage's associates said, referring to Wolfowitz's team. "The knives are out." One senior State Department official angrily told me that he would "meet them"—his "pissant" detractors in the Pentagon—"anytime, anywhere." In return, one of those detractors depicted the State Department's behavior as "unbelievably personal and vitriolic. Their attitude is that we're yahoos—especially those of us who come from the far right. The American Enterprise Institute"—a conservative think tank in Washington—"is like Darth Vader's mother ship for them." - 2002-03-04

Just read this commie propaganda if you want to know what the left thinks about all this.

1. They are delighted at Chalabi's downfall because it reinforces their notion that we went to war based on his lies.
2. They don't want us to believe that UN envoy Lackey Brahimi is "part of a Sunni conspiracy against the Shia."
3. They don't want us to believe that King Hussein moved against the Petra bank on behalf of Saddam.
4. They want us to believe Scott Ritter, who profited from keeping Saddam's regime in power, when he says that Chalabi is an Iranian agent.
5. They want us to believe that Chalabi was investigating the Oil for Palaces scam only so that he can blackmail the participants.

Don't forget that Oliver North, also accused by the left of complicity with Iran, was connected to Chalabi. It's all a vast right wing conspiracy.

[Teplukin]

2. They don't want us to believe that UN envoy Lackey Brahimi is "part of a Sunni conspiracy against the Shia." I don't claim to be totally knowlegeable about such issues; but isn't Brahimi the fellow that President Bush relying on to organize a post June 30th interim Iraqi gov't?

At least this is what he said in his last press conference.

[Tailgunner Joe]

"The great poison in the region is this Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians ...and the equally unjust support of the United States for this policy." - Lakhdar Brahimi

The UN can only be relied upon to stab us in the back and undermine the US at every turn.

The Iraqi people might want to know why we are trusting the organization which helped to keep them in slavery by embezzling billions from Saddam's Oil for Palaces scam.

[risk]

Just read this commie propaganda if you want to know what the left thinks about all this.

Democracies are well-known for their inability to focus on issues of security.

After the Persians lost to democratic Greeks at the battle of Marathon, most Greeks were unconcerned about their return. Those who advocated building up stronger defenses were ostracized. Few Greeks wanted to think about war anymore. Democracy gave them so much freedom to pursue peaceful interests. Why worry?

Themistocles had been a young warrior who had been able to distinguish himself at Marathon. With his potential to influence his fellow citizens, he persuaded them to build a fleet of Trireme warships in order to conduct raids against the Aeginans.

But Themistocles had heeded a warning from the gods. The Pythia, a priestess at the Delphi oracle had said that a "wooden wall" would stop the coming threat, which he and others assumed would be from Persia again.

The Persians did attack, and the ships were used to save the day.

Battle of Salamis

The Iraq war was a kind of Salamis for Americans. The Democrats are the foolish citizens of Greece who ostracized the patriots who only wanted to defend the realm.

President Bush, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleeza Rice are the Themistocles of our day.

History will show what heroes they are.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #44

Thanks for your comment.

[F14 Pilot]

[Grampa Dave]

That is a great cartoon.

It will be interesting to see how the various writers and freeper feel about this situation.

[freedom44]

Risk,

Thanks so much for a wonderful post and the ping!

[freedom44]

Despire the many years of war and aggression the Iranians and Greeks have "respect" for eachother. I have some Greek friends who can recite Persian history even better than i can. I think that although the Greeks and Persians may have not "liked" eachother they certainly respected eachother.

As was evident by Alexander the Great who after conquering the great Persian Empire visited the tomb of Cyrus bowed down and kissed it. Also, after taking leadership he was so disgusting by the shape of the tomb of Cyrus that he had the guard executed and rewrote the encription on the tomb of Cyrus glorifying him as a Just and Great leader.

This respect is never shared between Iranians and Arabs - Arabs who invaded Persia and disrespecfully forced their religion down Iranians throats - even then they could not force their ethnicity nor language, will never share in the hearts of Iranians the respect the Greeks do.

[F14 Pilot]

Iran admits regular contact with Chalabi

The Guardian ^ | Monday May 24, 2004 | Julian Borger and James Sturcke

Posted on 05/23/2004 10:20:00 PM PDT by F14 Pilot

The strange decline in relations between the US military and its one-time Iraqi ally, Ahmad Chalabi, took a new twist yesterday when Iran admitted having had regular dialogue with the former Pentagon favourite. The authorities in Tehran - and Mr Chalabi - were quick to deny suggestions that he had handed US secrets to Iran.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1141045/posts

[F14 Pilot]

Persia wasn't a democracy and Greece was????

[Remember_Salamis]

And that's why my screen name is "Remember_Salamis".

[risk]

I didn't mean to stir up anti-Persian sentiments, but no, Xerxes was a king. I think his massive number of troops were both pressed into service and were fighting for the glory of world domination.

The key to Greek success on the battle field was the new (very very new) concept of democracy. The Greeks were fighting for freedom. They fought very well, as have troops for every democracy since. The Iranian students, should they finally need to fight for their freedom, will fight just as well or better.