Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council (EC) Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Friday denounced as "rude and impudent" recent statements of the U.S. President George W. Bush against Iran and stressed that threats never pay to intimidate the Iranian people.
Rafsanjani, who was delivering his Friday Prayers Sermons at Tehran University campus, said the U.S. threats against Iran, as practiced repeatedly before, will have quite reverse consequences. "The U.S. authorities are wrong to think that certain counter-revolutionaries and 'the deceived' inside Iran are mouthpieces of the Iranian nation," Rafsanjani was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency IRNA.
Iran’s former president pointed out to the adverse and wide-scale publicity efforts of the U.S. media to downplay Iran's warnings that Israel should not be supplied with the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and regretted that today's world is in a state of 'degradation, collapse and cultural poverty'.
Bush Warns Iran
"Iran must be a contributor in the war against terror" Bush told reporters earlier this week. "Our nation, in our fight against terrorism, will uphold the doctrine of either you're with us or against us".
United States President George Bush has warned Iran not to destabilize the war-stricken country of Afghanistan. Bush conveyed the message that his administration wanted to work with Iran to secure the stability of Afghanistan, but warned: "If they in any way, shape, or form try to destabilize the government, the coalition will deal with them... in diplomatic ways, initially."
Bush claimed that his administration expected Tehran to hand over any members of Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, who might have fled across the borderline from Afghanistan into Iran.
Bush’s direct comments reflect Washington’s concerns that Tehran is trying to challenge the Afghan interim government rule, and may be giving safe haven to al-Qaeda leaders fleeing the country.
Iran strongly denies any of the allegations. The Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected Bush's warning as "unfounded". A spokesman denied Iran was trying to interfere in Afghanistan or give shelter to any of the al-Qaeda members.
At the onset of the war in Afghanistan, which followed the September 11 attacks in the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran offered Washington the use of its territory for “search-and-rescue” operations involving American forces.
Tehran also took part in the talks in Germany, which eventually led to the formation of the interim government in Afghanistan. "We had some positive signals early in this war from the Iranians" Bush admitted.
However, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar has accused Tehran of supplying weapons and money for local commanders in nearby Afghan provinces.
According to The New York Times, US special forces around Herat report that Iranian agents have threatened or bribed tribal leaders to undermine US-backed programs.
In a straightforward fashion, Bush concluded, "If they're a part of the coalition, they need to be an active member of the coalition". (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
