Iran Sends [Formal] Diplomatic Warning to US Over Iraq

CBN News ^ | Sunday May 23, 2004 9:05 PM Phillipines Time | wire report

[sathers]

Iran Sends Diplomatic Warning to US Over Iraq

Iran said Sunday that it had sent a message of formal diplomatic warning to the United States about its actions in neighboring Iraq.

'We have warned the Americans about Iraq,' Foriegn Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.

Asefi did not comment on the content of the warning, but officials and religious leaders in Shiite Muslim Iran have expressed outrage in recent weeks about the presence of US led forces in the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Asefi said that the diplomatic message was sent VIA the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents United States interests in Iran.

Washington broke ties with Iran in 1980.

[sathers]

Such a trustworty nation using the diplomatic process!

[evad]

"What is going on between us and members of the Iraqi Governing Council and all groups in Iraq is negotiation, the exchange of views and clear and transparent cooperation."

Interpretation: You got us and we don't like it.

[Reactionary]

The little bastards in Iran better watch out or our American UFOs will incinerate them.

We could use another "train accident."

[sathers]

There probably PO'ed about the Predator drones over half of their country by now..

[markman46]

Don't we still owe the Mullahs a butt wipping?

[nuconvert]

'We have warned the Americans about Iraq,"

The regime loves sounding tough.....

[EternalVigilance]

Can you say, "Axis of Evil"??

[sathers]

Can you say 'we already control about half of Iran already!' (the parts bordering on Iraq, lol)

[Travis McGee]

I don't understand why we're not shipping weapons to the Iranian dissidents. Iran should be in full rebellion today, but we have deliberately kept hands off. Time to turn up the heat under the ayatollahs in their own backyard.

[sathers]

Tough guys, reduced to sending out press releases VIA the Swiss.

[Ottofire]

Lets go with a kicking. Wipping sounds so Abu Grieb...

[Gator113]

I am thinking that they don't like their new neighbors and how we plan to change the neighborhood!!

[Righty1]

Right now they don't like it that we are crushing their bad boy Sadr while marginalizing their mole Chalabi.

[Right Angler]

Some people just can't wait in line for their ass whuppin, huh?

[RightWhale]

'We have warned the Americans about Iraq,' Foriegn Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi

Iran wiull probably be partitioned with Russia occupying Tehran. It's long past time for Islam to depart Iran.

[EternalVigilance]

The mullahs in Iran and the Baathist/Socialists in Syria have to hate the fact that we now have them completely flanked.

I have stated many times that, strategically, the fact that we now have those two evil regimes flanked is of even more value than eliminating Hussein's brutal dictatorship in Iraq.

More people need to back up, get some perspective, and realize this.

[Delta 21]

I am warning you ! !

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Can you say 2650 degrees and cloudy ?

[sathers]

I thought the people were going to get rid of the mullahs themselves in Iran, still might happen that way..

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[EternalVigilance]

Can you say 2650 degrees and cloudy ?

Ah, West Texas in August!

Oh wait, you said cloudy...

[VadeRetro]

Washington broke ties with Iran in 1980.

I have some kind of deeply-repressed, very upsetting memory about that.

[RightWhale]

Yes, but if the Arab rulers of Persia decide to liberate the tribal tourist attractions in Iraq, this could all come to a head sooner.

[LiberalBassTurds]

Exactly right.

LBT

-=-=-

[THX 1138]

officials and religious leaders in Shiite Muslim Iran have expressed outrage in recent weeks about the presence of US led forces in the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Anybody have any idea just how many "holy cities" these guys have. It's a tourist racket.

Wonder if they have golf packages like Myrtle Beach?

[EternalVigilance]

Great profile.

So sorry about your cousin and your friend.

Many of us will never forget.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

Thanks for post ing this.
(this thread was up late last night, but too late for any comments)Below was what I wrote last night.


I was worried they are warning us that we are close to being attacked by chemical weapons or other WMD in Iraq.

Something seems off these past few days in Iraq; I have a bad feeling while others have a really good feeling. I can't put my finger on it but these withdraws seem like a set-up to me.
(not to worry, my "bad feelings" never pan out)

[wattsup]

I am an retired ex-Nuclear Weapons Specialist from the good ole US Air Force. I would volunteer to go to Iran and personally pave over their country with glass. (sand+water heated to over 1200 degrees turns to glass)

[Terabitten]

Eeeek. *shiver with fright* *beg for mercy* *run away*

No.. wait... that's not right.. It's Eeek... *beg for mercy* *run away* *shiver with fright*

No, dangit, that's not it either... it's *run away* Eeeeek *shiver with... ahhh, screw it. Nuke 'em.

[BJungNan]

Translation: Muslims can fire on the U.S. from a holy site but the U.S. should not fire back on such a holy place.

[dr_who_2]

Maybe they ought to declare war on the US--and then wait to see how long it takes for their own regime to collapse. Of course, it won't happen that way. They've been secretly (!) at war with us since the 70's.

[BJungNan]

The U.S. reply should be:

Dear Iran, We will fire back whenever and wherever we are attacked.

[shield]

Wait till Bush wins re-election?

[gargoyle]

...There have been rumors of civil war in Iraq. There has, and is civil war in the middle east. When the new formed Iraq governance is established, we can address the threat to this nation, and constitute Art.1 Sec.8 Para.15...

...The world is filled with terrorists, and taking the fight to them is noble, but, we don't have the capability, right now. If the deadline for handing over the government to a sovereign Iraq is delayed, the US will be vulnerable to another terrorist attack...

[lavrenti]

I don't understand why we will not allow the Kurds to raise a ruckus in Iranian Kurdistan. Oh yeah, I forgot, the Turks.

I guess all we can do is fax the Iranian Foreign Ministry these purty pictures.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/ryongchon-imagery.htm

[JudgemAll]

Yes, like the Mullahs will pick up the garbage around the shrines to purify them. Burn those truly dessecrating scumbags alive.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

["We have warned the Americans about Iraq,"]

Hey Meathead Mullahs, WE warned Iraq about Iraq last year, and look what happened to THEM!

[LiberalBassTurds]

Thank you my friend. Much appreciated.

LBT

-=-=-

[Gucho]

"Can you say 2650 degrees and cloudy ?"

Tehran weather report: Clear with sudden mushroom clouds on the horizon :-)

[Sender]

I don't understand why we're not shipping weapons to the Iranian dissidents.

Possibly because we're finally learning the lesson that today's freedom fighter is tomorrow's terrorist. We also thought it would be a good idea to help bin Laden and Saddam when they appeared to be promising pawns in the game. I am not sure if sending US weapons to Iran would be a wise idea. They probably have more individual arms and RPGs and whatever than they know what to do with now. It's not weapons that are lacking in Iran.

Besides, after the rebellion, Iran is not going to just forget its Shia mentality. I am not sure that democracy as we know it is possible in those countries...they have fought for so many centuries and been brainwashed for so many generations.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Like we would even know WHO to ship them to. Student groups and others disaffected are far from being capable of armed resistance. This cannot be transformed into an American fight and simplely trying to arm the unknown is not smart strategic thinking. The situation in Iran has to mature further before it is of any real use to us.

[Ranger]

ran warns US over Iraq
23/05/2004 14:18  - (SA)  

 

Tehran - Iran has sent a "formal warning" to the United States over American policy in neighbouring Iraq, foreign ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi said on Sunday, as he branded Washington immoral and deceitful.

The situation in Iraq is serious and this is why we have addressed the necessary warning," he told a press conference.

Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran has voiced alarm in recent days at fighting around the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala between US-led coalition forces and the militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, for which it blames the United States.

It opposed the invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, with which it fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, and has called for the US-led coalition to withdraw rapidly and hand back power to the Iraqis.

Violent demonstrations have been staged recently outside the British embassy in Tehran against the actions of the United States and its main ally Britain in Iraq.

Washington has no diplomatic relations with Tehran and the warning - the first to be made public at least since the Iraq war began - was passed by diplomatic channels through the Swiss embassy here, which represents US interests in Iran.

"We want several things for Iraq, the most important of which are the departure of the occupation forces as quickly as possible and the restitution of authority to the Iraqi people themselves," Asefi said.

The United States accuses Iran of influencing Iraq's own Shiite majority to destabilise the country, and allowing foreign fighters to cross its borders into Iraq.

Asefi also insisted that the People's Mujahedeen, the main armed opposition organisation to the Islamic republic, be expelled from Iraq, where they have been held in a base under US guard.

"They should already have been expelled from Iraq, though they are still under American protection," Assefi said.

"What we see here is the hypocrisy and immoral approach of the Americans."

The People's Mujahedeen operated out of bases in Iraq under the protection of Saddam's regime, but were disarmed by US forces and some 4 000 of its members in Ashraf camp, 100km northeast of Baghdad, not far from the Iranian border.

Tehran has promised no harm to the ones who repent and return as long as they do not have "blood on their hands."

The provisional Iraqi authorities announced on December 9 their intention to expel the Mujahedeen from Iraq by the end of the year but this has not happened.

Asefi said the situation in Iraq had changed following "the torture of prisoners" by US troops and "attacks on the holy places."

Edited by Tisha Steyn

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1531289,00.html

 

[Ranger]

Iran tells US to pull out of Iraq
 

Previous demonstrations outside the British embassy have been violent

The Iranian foreign ministry has sent a warning message to the US, criticising its policy in Iraq.

A spokesman said Iran wanted "the departure of the occupation forces as quickly as possible and the restitution of authority to the Iraqi people".

Iran, a Shia republic, is worried by fighting in holy cities such as Najaf and Karbala in neighbouring Iraq.

Around 400 people also took part in a protest against the Iraq occupation outside the UK embassy in Tehran.

Demonstrators chanted slogans demanding the closure of the UK embassy and expulsion of the British ambassador from Iran.

About 100 of them repeatedly tried to rush the police lines but they were heavily outnumbered by the security forces, the BBC 's Jim Muir reports from Tehran.

Some stones and firecrackers were thrown at the embassy compound, which has become a focal point for demonstrators angered by what they see as the violation of Shia holy places in Iraq.

But there was more violence at a demonstration on Wednesday, when petrol bombs were thrown.

Sympathy for militant

Iran issued its warning through the Swiss embassy, as its diplomatic ties with the US have been severed.

The foreign ministry said Iraq's Shia should take their lead from their senior religious leaders.

Our correspondent says that while Iran has officially thrown its weight behind the moderate cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, some hardline elements appear to have a good deal of sympathy for the younger and more militant Moqtada Sadr.

Spying allegations denied

In a separate development, Iran has denied that it received confidential information from Ahmed Chalabi, a senior member of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

However, Iran did acknowledge it had a "continuous and permanent dialogue" with Mr Chalabi, who faces allegations of passing US secrets to Tehran.

Mr Chalabi was previously tipped for high office by senior figures in the Pentagon, but has fallen out of favour since reports on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction provided by his informants have proved to be unfounded.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3740027.stm

 

[Ranger]

Protests held at British embassy in Iran
Sun 23 May, 2004 16:12

 

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An estimated 400 people, some throwing firecrackers, have demonstrated for the fourth time in little over a week outside the British embassy in Iran against the actions of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, witnesses say.

A Reuters journalist at the scene on Sunday saw at least two firecrackers and several tomatoes thrown at the embassy by the crowd of mostly students as they chanted "Death to Britain, Death to America."

Riot police with batons and shields prevented the crowd from getting close to the main gate of the embassy. About a dozen people were arrested as police tried to disperse the crowd. About 100 of the demonstrators refused to move and staged a sit-in in front of the embassy.

Three protests at the embassy last week turned ugly with demonstrators hurling petrol bombs, firecrackers and stones at the large diplomatic compound in central Tehran. No one was hurt in those incidents.

"The British embassy must be closed down. Its mercenary ambassador must be expelled," the crowd chanted on Sunday.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran has in recent weeks become more vocal in opposing the presence of U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Religious leaders in the Islamic Republic have been particularly incensed by fighting close to holy Shi'ite sites in Najaf and Kerbala.

In a statement on Sunday, the protesters listed several demands, including the expulsion of British Ambassador Richard Dalton, an apology from the United States and Britain for "desecrating" holy sites in Iraq and the immediate withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Najaf and Kerbala.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Sunday Tehran had sent a formal diplomatic warning to the United States about its actions in Iraq.

But Asefi dismissed calls from some hardliners for Dalton to be expelled.

"Expelling the British ambassador is not on our agenda," he told a weekly news conference.

The British embassy is the main focus of anti-Western demonstrations in Iran in the absence of a U.S. diplomatic presence. Washington severed ties with Tehran in 1980.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=515936&section=news

 

[Ranger]

My read on this is that the Shiite rebellion funded by Iran has collapsed. Sadr's troops collapsed. Sistani has turned against him after his house was attacked. An Iranian spy ring has been busted. Hezbollah is hosting staged protests in Lebanon but, its too little too late.

In short, the Coalition just beat the Iranian funded and organized Shiite insurrection. We took their best shot and are still standing.

This is big and positive news.

[McGavin999]

I agree with your assessment. The Iraqis want no part of Iran. They seem to think that just because they are Shiia that the Iraqis will be on their side. Not so. The Iraqis have had a front row seat on Iran for years and have watched the country fall into poverty and despair.

[randog]

Something seems off these past few days in Iraq; I have a bad feeling while others have a really good feeling.

My spidey sense has been tingling, too. I feel like I'm watching a grand chess game, but the board is covered by a blanket and all I can see are the players' arms moving.

I did a big "Huh?!" over the Abu Graib incident, then got even more suspicious when Chalabi got busted, and now this.

Something big is going on behind the scenes but I can't make heads or tails of it. Imal--you got any ideas or insight?

[TADSLOS]

Never bluff a man with the nuts.

[Inge C]

I love your thought.......and would go to help you in a heartbeat....but then again...Hitlary Clinton feels she is so good of a Commander and Chief...may she goes to the Holy Site there in Iran and preach to the Mullahs.

[wagglebee]

Perhaps we should reply with a diplomatic message of our own, taped to the side of a MOAB.