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Iran says it is determined not to interfere in Iraq
Jordan Times, 5/30/03
TEHRAN (R) — Iran on Thursday dismissed US charges it was stirring up trouble in postwar Iraq and said it was determined not to interfere in its neighbour's affairs.
Iran has repeatedly pleaded its innocence in answer to a stream of charges from Washington that Tehran is trying to unhinge the US hold on Iraq, develop nuclear weapons and is giving refuge to top Al Qaeda fugitives.
“We are determined not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs and impose a government on the Iraqi people or say what kind and model of government they should have,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
US administrator Paul Bremer on Wednesday cited “troubling” Iranian activity in Iraq which he said could result in serious problems if it went too far.
Tehran backs Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq, many of whose leaders fled the rule of Saddam Hussein for exile in Iran.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said Washington would not let Tehran try to foster Iranian-style rule in Iraq.
But Asefi said only the Iraqi people could decide what sort of government they should have.
“It depends on the Iraqi nation and they should choose the model of government they want,” he said on the sidelines of an Islamic conference. “Whatever they choose we will accept it and respect it.”
The United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution and brands Iran as part of an “axis of evil,” has stepped-up pressure on Tehran after intelligence intercepts suggested orders for the May 12 Saudi suicide bombings were issued by Al Qaeda operatives inside Iran.
Iran says it has deported some 500 Al Qaeda members who fled Afghanistan, but says it is still questioning others.
US officials say Al Qaeda security chief Saif Al Adel, an Egyptian indicted for conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in east Africa, and Saad Ben Laden, son of Al Qaeda leader Osama Ben Laden, are believed to be in Iran.
“We still don't know if this Adel is in Iran or not,” said Asefi. “A group of Al Qaeda members have been arrested, but we don't know if he is among them.”
Iran has accused the United States of double standards in fighting terrorism by refusing to hand over People's Mujahedeen Iranian rebels disarmed by US forces in Iraq.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |