Afghans, Iran linked by new road, divided by U.S.
27 Jan 2005
Source: Reuters
By Saeed Haqiqi
ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The presidents of Afghanistan and Iran opened a new road between their countries on Thursday amid hopes that an increase in trade would improve their uneasy relationship.
Tehran has been unsettled by Afghanistan's close ties to its arch foe the United States, its massive output of drugs and a recent report has even suggested that U.S. special forces have entered Iran from Afghanistan to search for nuclear sites.
Thousands of U.S.-led troops remain in Afghanistan, three years after they helped oust the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime from power for harbouring Osama bin Laden, the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.
Still, all talk at the official opening of the 122-km (76-mile), $60-million road, paid for by Iran, was of brotherly ties and forging friendship. Most of Afghanistan's imports come through Iran, and the new, paved road should lead to a surge in trade.
"Afghanistan belongs to the people of Afghanistan and Iran desires a stable, modern and free Afghanistan," said Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
"The reconstruction of Afghanistan will first of all benefit the oppressed people of Afghanistan and then its neighbouring countries," said Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was handpicked by Washington to lead the country after the ouster of the Taliban.
The presence of 18,000 U.S. troops, including special forces, in Afghanistan, some of them close to the Iranian border, can be little comfort for Iran's leaders.
Since 2001, Iran has seen U.S. forces enter Afghanistan to its east and then Iraq to its west, and been accused by President George W. Bush of being part of an "axis of evil".
The United States is now piling pressure on the Islamic Republic, accusing it of trying to build a nuclear arsenal, aiding Iraqi insurgents and backing "terrorist" groups.
"You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list," U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said last week.
An article in The New Yorker magazine this month said the United States was launching secret reconnaissance missions in Iran from Afghanistan to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets.
Iran ridiculed the report from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh and the Pentagon denied it, but the presence of Karzai's burly American bodyguards at the border can only have served as a reminder of the gulf between the neighbours in their relations with the world's strongest military power.
Nevertheless, analysts said Iran and Afghanistan both had too much to lose by letting that get in the way of relations with each other.
"A collection of common interests and fears push Iran and Afghanistan to become friendlier with each other," said Iranian analyst Saeed Leylaz.
Iran fears the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, while Kabul fears Tehran might stir up instability inside its borders by assisting Islamic militants, he said.
"Iran tries to avoid any conflict with America in Afghanistan and Afghanistan tries not to harm Iran because of al Qaeda," he said. (Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in TEHRAN)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL112885.htm
Iran won't dismantle nuclear program
From correspondents in Malaysia
27jan05
Herald Sun, Australia
IRAN has vowed it will never dismantle its uranium enrichment program, a day after a confidential European Union document showed France, Britain and Germany had told Tehran they would not settle for anything less.
Iran has temporarily frozen its enrichment program, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or weapons, but insists atomic fuel production is a sovereign right it will never abandon.
Asked whether Iran would dismantle the program, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Gholamali Khoshroo, who is visiting Malaysia for a meeting of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference, replied: "Never".
"For what reason? We are not terrified by the US.
"We have had this kind of relations with the US for 25 years. We don't want to upgrade tension with US, but we want to live as a sovereign country and nobody has the right to threaten others."
Iran says its atomic ambitions are strictly peaceful, but Washington believes it has a covert atomic weapons program and warned last week that military force was an option it would not rule out to stop Tehran from getting the bomb.
Mr Khoshroo accused the US of attempting to disrupt his country's talks with the EU.
"We are not living in the jungle, we are living in accordance with international law," he said.
"In accordance with international law, those who have force should not use it unless legitimacy by the international community is given to them.
"America wanted to put pressure on the EU not to continue negotiations (with Iran)."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, has been investigating Tehran's nuclear program for more than two years.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei says he has found no clear evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran.
An EU document seen by Reuters in Vienna yesterday summarised this month's talks between the European Union's "big three" (the EU3) and Iran.
It said there was no economic justification for the enrichment program, especially since Russia agreed to provide Tehran with fuel for the Russian-built Bushehr power plant.
"Iran recognises explicitly that its fuel cycle program cannot be justified on economic grounds," the document said.
In Vienna, diplomats said the lack of economic justification was a key reason why EU3 officials generally agreed with the US view that Iran's nuclear ambitions were not entirely peaceful.
In Malaysia, the Iranian minister said there were no legal grounds for the demand that his country halt its nuclear activities.
"What is the legal basis for any request to relinquish all our activities?" Mr Khoshroo said.
"The US is upset Iran is cooperating with the IAEA and Iran's activities have been peaceful.
"The US is not happy Iran's relationships with Asia and Islamic countries are developing. We are playing a peaceful role.
"The US is using extra force to overshadow the emergence of Iran as a stabiliser and as a strong country with good relationship with the west and the east."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12071809%255E1702,00.html