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Iran's Islamic Republic in US Sights as Washington Pursues War on Terror

September 05, 2003
AFP
Yahoo News

TEHRAN -- Having crushed the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq, Washington has turned its sights on Iran, which it suspects of building an atomic bomb and backing the al-Qaeda terror network.

It did not matter that Iran's Islamic republic officially condemned the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. Relations between Washington and Tehran remain very tense.

But diplomats agree that Tehran -- which also condemned the US-led war on the Taliban -- has shown signs of goodwill, shored up ties with Europe and has been frequently drawn into discussions since the September 11 attacks.

In some ways Iran could have become one of the beneficiaries of the upheaval triggered by the attacks on the United States.

In fact, Iranian reformists took advantage of the situation to call for a direct dialogue with the United States and despite an official rebuke, informal contacts took place on neutral ground in Geneva.

Americans and Iranians began to talk of Afghanistan and soon their conversations were broadened to include discussions on the war against terrorism.

So when US President George W. Bush, speaking in January 2002, included Iran in the same "axis of evil" as Iraq and North Korea, the Iranians felt betrayed.

Nevertheless, indirect contacts between the two nations continued until the start of the US-led war on Iraq in March, when they finally broke down.

Fearing they would be next on a US hit-list, the Iranians kept a low profile during the conflict against their neighbour and former enemy, winning kudos from Britain, Washington's main coalition partner in the war on Iraq.

During a visit to Tehran in June, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was "broadly satisfied" with Iran's conduct in neighbouring Iraq, although he added that London had "some concerns" over Iran's post-war role in the
country.

Straw's remarks came in stark contrast to assertions from senior US officials that Iran was hampering the post-war reconstruction effort in Iraq through its support of hardline Shiite Muslim groups.US officials have repeatedly accused Iran of harbouring alleged terrorists, including members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network blamed for the September 11 attacks.

According to one report, the United States said it had intercepted telephone conversations implicating al-Qaeda leaders in a triple bombing that killed 35 people, including nine Americans, in Riyadh in May.

Some diplomats have expressed doubt that Tehran would have allowed top al-Qaeda militants, believed to be in Iran, to communicate with the outside world.

After initially denying that any al-Qaeda leaders were on its soil, Iran has admitted that it had arrested and extradited to their home countries "less than 500" members of the terror network since late 2001, including Saudi nationals.

Tehran also acknowledged holding a raft of suspected al-Qaeda militants, including top leaders, but has failed to identify them.

Diplomats and Arab press reports have said they include Osama bin Laden's son, Saad; the movement's spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Gaith, and its number two and number three -- Ayman al-Zawahiri and Saif al-Adel.

The United States has expressed its desire to question these suspects but Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi ruled this out, saying any cooperation with Washington must be "reciprocal".

"There's no reason why we should cooperate with the Americans while the Americans do not cooperate with us," Kharazi told CNN recently, in reference to the continued presence of members of the opposition People's Mujahedeen in US-controlled Iraq.