Iran unites against American presence


	February 14, 2002	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

Iran unites against American presence
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - George W Bush's untimely State of the Union address, which lumped Iran, Iraq and North Korea together in an "axis of evil", has had the effect of uniting the Iranian nation behind a common cause: to rid the region of the American presence.

A senior Iranian diplomatic source has told Asia Times Online that Iran will now play all the cards in its hand to manipulate events to force the United States to reduce its military buildup in the region.

The source elaborated: "At present, Iran is in contact with Russia. Both countries have differences, but at the same time both countries understand their collective interests and agree that no external element should have a share of interest in the region. In coming days ... Russia and Iran will address regional issues together and use their influence in Afghanistan, through close coordination with the Afghan leadership, so that the US role in Afghanistan will be reduced to a level where it will not be a threat to any neighboring country."

Iran has already extended its contacts with the European Union. It has recently resolved its differences with Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and has established very close relationships with those countries. Top Iranian diplomats are convinced that if the US dares to attack Iran, Tehran's friends would work together against US interests all over the world.

According to sources, immediately after the US president's "axis of evil" speech, Iran contacted its allies in Afghanistan's interim setup and reaffirmed Tehran's friendship at an individual level as well as with the Kabul government. Afghan commanders such as Ismail Khan and the Hazara tribes in Herat have been very close to Iran; Tehran has now made it clear that since neither oppose the Afghan government, Kabul should ignore US propaganda aimed at destroying the friendship between the two countries.

Iran's move on the weekend against Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Afghan dissident commander who has long been given refuge in Iran (see Iran acts against anti-US Afghan fighters, Feb 12) has confirmed its position as a friend in the eyes of the Afghan government.

"Gulbuddin has been warned not to make statements while sitting in Iran. This is not because of US threats, but just to prevent any crack between the relationship of Iran and the Afghan interim government," explained a source who is high up in diplomatic circles. He added that the restrictions imposed on Gulbuddin and his Hizb-i-Islami group were not intended to destroy Hekmatyar, but merely to shut him up before he harmed Iran-Afganistan relations.

Bush's statement against Iran has pushed Iranian domestic political differences into the backround. The enmity of Iran toward the US, held since the beginning of Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, had diminished in the past few years because of the moderate leadership of President Seyed Mohammad Khatami. Now, Khatami himself is in the forefront in rallying Iranians against the US.

Since Khatami's election in 1997, Iran had been on the road to becoming a progressive society that believed in dialogue instead of a "clash of civllizations". Khatami once wrote: "Dialogue among civilizations is spoken by one who values wisdom and has founded his own life on the basis of rationality and dialogue. Religion and history [have] taught us this lesson. It was Muslims who familiarized Westerners with their history of philosophy and civics. The transfer of Greek science, philosophy and wisdom first occurred as a result of Europeans' familiarity with Muslims. With an open embrace, we must benefit from the positive aspects of other civilizations and cultures. This is the sense of adapting, and adapting is a human art."

Khatami's desire that Iran should become an open society brought him into conflict with hardline Muslim clerics, but he had been gaining influence and popularity. Now, in one stroke, Bush has halted this "dialogue among civilizations".

According to reports, tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran on Monday to mark the anniversary of the Iranian revolution and show their defiance of the US. Leaders across the political spectrum had called on people to turn out. Khatami himself told the crowds: "The best way of fighting the pressures and threats of immature leaders is your presence here"; and he called on US leaders to "wake up and change your policy on Iran".

In recent years the February 11 anniversary rally had become an occasion for conservative Iranians to register their commitment to the 23-year-old revolution. This year, men, women and children marched through Tehran shouting: "Our people are awake, and hate America." Many said they had come to show their anger against the US threat and their determination to defend their homeland.

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