An Iranian daily Tuesday attacked the appointment of ex-general Colin Powell as US president-elect George W. Bush's secretary of state, saying it signified a "miniaturization of diplomacy."
The conservative Tehran Times said the nomination "reminds one of US policy during the Cold War era, when the Republicans fomented or fanned the flames of crises in different parts of the word to promote their armament industry and in order to keep the ball of their arms sales rolling."
"With Powell at the top of the U.S. diplomacy apparatus, it seems that the US foreign policy will be based on a revived form of the militarism that dominated East-West relations in the Cold War era," it added.
Thus, it is only natural to expect the escalation of regional and international crises aimed at funneling more money into the pockets of American arms manufacturers."
The paper said Bush and Powell had declared that "Washington will fully support Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians."
But it warned, "The new US officials like Powell should also bear in mind that the wave of the Palestinian uprising is too strong to be suppressed by the US militarized diplomacy."
Iran, which has no diplomatic relations with the United States and does not recognize Israel, has not reacted officially to Bush's election victory -- TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
