The row over alleged "secret talks" between Iran and the United States grew Tuesday, with a high-ranking reformist parliament member insisting they had taken place, despite official denials.
Mohsen Mirdamadi, reformist chairman of the Iranian Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and National Security Committee, said he was "surprised" at the comments Sunday by Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi strongly denying any "official or unofficial" contacts between Tehran and Washington.
Mirdamadi was quoted by the reformist daily Norouz, which he heads, that he would be meeting Yunesi's deputy Wednesday to provide him with information on the subject, which is highly sensitive in the Islamic republic, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, a Member of Parliament said that a conference on US-Iran relations organized by Mirdamadi's committee got under way as planned Tuesday. The deputy said four options had been raised, "War with the United States, peace with the United States, political resistance and military resistance."
"The third approach is favored for the moment," he said, adding that another session would be held in two weeks.
However, he added that two invitees, conservative members of the Expediency Council headed by former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who has been alleged by the reformist media to be behind the secret contacts, had stayed away.
Mirdamadi called on the government two weeks ago to disclose the details of the secret talks alleged by the media to have taken place since November 2001 in either Cyprus or Turkey.
The government ordered Yunesi's ministry to investigate, prompting the minister's remarks on Sunday.
"These reports are rumors and in this situation in which the United States is threatening our nation, any talks with the US are against our national interest," he said.
However, Mirdamadi queried whether any inquiry had been mounted, warned Tuesday, "These remarks without investigation will harm the credibility of the intelligence ministry".
The reformist Parliament member claimed Yunesi was voicing "his own personal views" and called upon the intelligence ministry to gather all its information and study it before coming to a conclusion on the matter of clandestine US-Iranian channels.
In the meantime, the conservative daily Jomhuri-e-Eslami accused reformist foreign ministry officials of spreading rumors about Rafsanjani to "break the taboo of talks with the US." It further fumed, "These rumors damage the credibility of the regime".
Furthermore, the daily demanded that the intelligence ministry "identify the liars and those who spread rumors to find out what are the motivations behind it". A spokesman for the conservative-dominated judiciary told Khorasan daily on Tuesday that the "courts can prosecute those who spread rumors regarding Iran-US relations".
The spokesman called on the press "not to fan the flames of rumors and lies, which can be considered as an offence and be prosecuted in the courts". (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
